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[nyifly22]

Masterlist

Redemption 1 2

Summary: Nola and Adonis both prided themselves on having integrity, but what happens when they both completely destroy each others moral compass? Follow Heavy Weight Champion, Adonis Creed as he grapples with being married and in love with someone else. Follow Nola McBride as she deals with the shame and guilt of falling in love with a married man and trying to maintain her hard earned career. Story takes place following Creed II but Adonis and Bianca do not have a daughter.

Warnings: 18+, Infidelity, Angst, Language, Pregnancy

[starcrossedxwriter]

Wicked Fantasies Chapter 13.1 (MBJ x Black OC)

A/N: Happy New Year! Ummm I've got so much to say cause this chapter was like actually so hard for me to write haha which is why it took so long (so sorry!) but writer's block is a bitchhhhh lol I hope you enjoy! And forgive me cause... in full transparency, I messed up the timing in the last chapter lol I'm human but really wanted to finish this story so decided to give myself a bit of grace :)

“Sweet Jesus. You know, I love Jason… he’s amazing but holy hell, this email is so long… all about clothes for a trip to Vegas?” 

Raven’s body nestled into Michael’s chest as Allen weaved through traffic toward their dinner reservation, the actor catching the sensual blend of saffron and jasmine in her perfume every time she shifted. Soft, inviting like warm sheets after a long day. Sensual like a secret inviting you in close. His nose nestled deeper into her neck where he could shamelessly get intoxicated on her. His hand slid higher up her thigh, closer to her warmth. 

Because the consequences of the night would likely leave him out in the cold, he savored the last few moments cocooned in her softness. 

Sade filled the car, punctuated only by the soft tapping of Raven’s stiletto nail against her phone screen as she tried to absorb the novel provided by Michael’s stylist.

“I’m totally lost. And these all seem so dressy. There are so many. I thought we were just going for like an event or two? What are we even going for? Is it like a fight or something? Did I ask? I should’ve asked,” she mumbled more to herself, an exasperation at her own cluelessness shining through. 

Michael’s chuckle was low, validating at her minor but justified crash out. While Raven often pushed firm against his monetary displays of affection, travel seemed to be the one indulgence in his lifestyle she granted herself. And he wanted nothing more than to fill every page of her passport. And he was thankful because otherwise, she would’ve asked far too many questions about their upcoming trip.

“I gotchu. I know… shit’s tedious if you’re not used to it.” 

“Yea, I guess I knew it was like this for bigger things… award shows and stuff. But it’s really everything y’all do? A small part of it is fun, don’t get me wrong but… I’m tired of this grandpa!” She whined jokingly, letting her head nestle back into his shoulder lazily. 

“That’s just too damn bad.” His voice immediately took on a perfect imitation of a signature racist white grandpa, the pair dissolving into laughter. “Nah but it does get easier when you’re in a rhythm with a stylist. They get to know you and your style more. You start speakin’ the same language. Emails get shorter, shit gets less annoyin’. You’ll get used to it.” 

His assurances paused as something popped into his head. 

“Honestly, that’s on me, baby. I should’ve gotten you set up with someone by now. I mentioned it a while back to him but I’ll ask Jason to pull together recs based on your style and we can set up some interviews. N you can start to curate your own look. Alex mentioned you’re poppin’ up on more style blogs. You can get a followin’ ahead of your book comin’ out. It’s a good time for it.” 

“That’s probably so expensive, baby. I don’t wanna keep being a burden to Jason but I can’t afford that. And I don’t want you to have to pay for two stylists for everything. You’ve gotten me so many pieces already, I can also just wear what I have to smaller things.”  

“Yea but I can. Don’t worry about the cost of it, I can handle all that. Do you want your own stylist?” 

Michael’s grin was playful, youthful. Someone who was ultimately responsible with their finances but was not concerned with indulging the whims of his heart here or there. A glint that said he did not care about shoulds or should nots. Simply want. 

Raven shook her head with a grin. “I don’t think I can just want things with your money, Michael. One trait I didn’t inherit from my family.” 

Michael was grateful to find someone who did not care about the dollar amount in his account nor his net worth. As certain as the sunrise, he knew if all his money disappeared tomorrow, Raven wouldn’t with it. And that made him want to give it all to her, shower her in physical representations of his care and his love. And sometimes, he just yearned for her to ask. 

To ask for something purely selfish and outlandish. 

Just to know she believed she could. And trust that he would do it.

“You can want anythin’ with my money n get it. You just gotta ask, baby. But it’s also practical. You’re gonna need your own stylist eventually anyway. Gotta turn heads on your national book tour in 2025.” He peppered her neck with kisses, Raven giggling as she tried to shy away from his playful attack. “So how about I set up the interviews, least meet with people, then we can haggle about it before I inevitably pay for it?” 

“You’re gonna lose one day,” she mumbled. 

His head dipped low, his breath tickling against her ear. 

“Haven’t yet.” He paused. “And don’t plan on it.” His voice - quiet but resonant. A declaration. 

A truth Raven perhaps was not ready to acknowledge yet. That his generosity would not stop even if she wanted it to. 

Michael had always been generous. But before, she felt as if the extravagance was part of the deal. She would’ve been fine without it but the nice clothes and extravagant trips sold the fantasy of them. And that was the whole point. But now that they were officially dating and Raven tried to piece her life back together after the last year, it wasn’t just the occasional dress for an award show he bought or a first-class flight. It was everything. 

It was the brand new car that appeared in his driveway.

It was the sparkly, brand new macbook, monitor, and desk set up in Michael’s office after a frustrating day at the Genius Bar trying to force her 6 year old Macbook to hold on for just a bit longer. 

It was this casual offer to get Raven her own stylist so she could build her own brand if she wanted. 

At every turn, Michael reminded her that while money could not buy happiness, it could buy one thing Raven also never had: ease. Raven’s life had never been this easy… until now. When was the last time she obsessively checked her bank account to ensure she didn’t overdraft it? Decide between multiple things she wanted because she could only afford one thing that month? 

Those days were gone. 

For good, if Michael had his way, she knew. She could finally say goodbye to the days spent penny pinching or nights spent sick with stress about where rent would come from that month. And despite how at peace she should have been finally allowing someone else to hold the financial burdens, she was not at peace at all. 

And it was not just the things that cost him monetarily. 

At first, she tried to make her presence in Michael’s house minimal. Over these last two months? Her mark in the Jordan household grew day by day. The first time she left a few clothes over? Neatly folded on a shelf as if that had been their place this entire time. She would bring a bag over to take things home but there was never a reason to. Every item? Folded, hung up and put away in a spot carved out for her.

And slowly, one shelf morphed into two and transitioned into an entire wall in his expansive closet filled with both Raven’s clothes and clothes Michael gifted her from various stylists. 

His bathroom? Fully stocked with all of Raven’s skin and hair care products and her make up, and new luxury products she could have never hoped to afford around his second sink. She nearly had a heart attack at the price tag of the face moisturizer he encouraged her to try. 

Michael’s office? Now included two desks, one donned with blush and gold accessories and a framed photo of her and the students from the book club right before Christmas. And had been redecorated to create a warmer atmosphere for Raven to work in.

Raven casually showed Michael the artwork of an artist she adored on Instagram but could never spare the money for. Raven’s favorite painting of hers now hung above Michael’s fireplace. Raven’s favorite drinks and foods became regular staples in Michael’s grocery deliveries. He even added her to the family’s group chat. 

But what jarred her was not how he acquiesced his kingdom to her as if she held all the riches of the world, it was that she never even had to ask. For any of it. She never had to complain or even drop a hint. He just integrated her into his life as if she should have always been there. And made plans as if she would always be. So deliberately and quietly that Raven, herself, had barely even noticed until lately. 

And everyone seemed to welcome it, encourage it… except her. 

In fact, she felt more restless. Every gift, every extravagance simply made Raven painfully aware of how terrified she was. 

Terrified to be taken care of and viewed as a burden. 

Terrified of the lifestyle being loved by Mihael offered, a lifestyle she never dreamed of getting comfortable in. 

Terrified to rely on anyone but herself. 

Terrified of trusting only to end up where she was again. 

Terrified of being alone. 

“Besides, we got a lifetime of red carpets to dress for, baby.”

Lifetime settled heavy. Too heavy for the moment of levity, too heavy for Raven’s brain to process. She paused, studying him for even a modicum of amusement or a hint of doubt in his low eyes and relaxed posture. 

But there was none of that. Anywhere. 

“You say that sort of thing so nonchalantly. Like it’s nothing.” 

Her voice was almost too soft to hear. But she knew he heard the doubt loud and clear, far louder than she intended. 

Not a question. Not even particularly directed at him. She did not question Michael’s love for her, that much she knew. She questioned whether it would last, when the inevitable would finally bang on their door and she’d be kicked out into the cold… as always. She had not intended to utter it outloud, her fear often kept that lodged in her throat. Because she did not know which scared her more: a retraction or an affirmation. 

“It ain’t nothin’. It’s everythin’. It’s just the truth.” 

The period at the end of his sentence was a resolution. No discussion. No elaboration. Just his truth. 

Raven did not know what to say after that, her eyes sliding back to the window in contemplation. 

And Michael did not press her to continue the conversation. It just sat between them, like his proclamations of love often did. As if she had to absorb them slower than his heart wanted to give them. And he gave her that time, assured her when the doubt seemed too loud, and kept moving. He did not want her to get stuck in a spiral over it. 

“You sure you’re gonna be up for it though? It ain’t that big of a deal.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “Asking every day isn’t gonna change the answer. I’m feeling a lot better.” 

Not a lie. Not the truth either. An embellishment perhaps. Because the more proper statement would have been that she was not feeling any worse. And after her stomach bug, Raven was particularly grateful for that small miracle. 

“I know that ain’t true, baby girl. But,” he turned his head toward the window, sucking his teeth. “Pickin’ my battles today,” he grumbled under his breath. 

Michael saw how it was starting to weigh on her, even if she didn’t want to admit it. Even her perfectly painted makeup could not fully hide her exhaustion. But she also refused to go to the doctor, content to ride it out. She claimed she was used to that but he was not used to watching it. 

“What’s that supposed to me-” Raven started to turn her eyes from the window when she noticed a local corner store she used to frequent. A staple in her life once upon a time, keeping her fed with the best pupusas in all of LA. And while her neighborhood was home to quite a few cheap, hole-in-the-wall gems, she knew it was not home to the restaurant she forced Spanx on for.  

“Wait… where are we going? Thought we had a reservation? We’re nowhere near the restaurant?” 

“Ummm we do but not for another hour.” 

“Okay… then where are we going?” 

She knew Michael was always liable to have a trick or two up his sleeve, but even Raven had to admit this had a different tenor to it. An unsettling one. Her confusion was usually met with an aura of assurance, his eyes dancing with confidence of a man who knew he struck gold before he swung. Today, her confusion hit an aura of uncertainty, his eyes clouded with a fear that perhaps… for the first time, he truly took a gamble. 

The silence stretched longer than comfortable. Prickly against her skin like the thorn of a rose bush. Beautiful in appearance but she was growing wearier than she wanted to be around a beautiful thing. It raised her guard, forced the relaxed lean out of her back and propelled her body away from his as she stared at his profile. 

His particularly focused gaze at the passing scenery certainly did not help matters. 

“I love a surprise just as much as the next girl but if you don’t wanna spend dinner in an argument, I’d answer me. Expeditiously.” 

“Damn aight… pullin’ out SAT words n shit. Can you just trust me, princess? One stop before dinner. We’re almost there. ” 

“No, I’m not just gonna trust you because honestly, you’re being kinda weird. Which is really not like you when you’re trying to surprise me. Besides, you’ve spent all of what? A couple hours in this neighborhood? Where could you even think to tak-” 

Her words faltered as she caught the lettering of a passing street sign. 

Jefferson Boulevard. 

Raven did not need him to answer. She knew exactly where he was taking her.

He wouldn’t. 

Yes, he fucking would. 

Was she foolish to believe he would do what she asked? Leave her business alone for her to attend to. But when had he ever done that? When had Michael B. Jordan ever left her be when he thought she was hurting or struggling? He simply could not do it. And Raven was grateful for it, grateful for how he supported her. While she wished she could bask unapologetically in that degree of devotion, she found herself concerned he questioned her ability to solve her own problems. 

His motivations were pure, she knew, not control wrapped in the shiny gloss of generosity. No, he gave and he gave and expected nothing in return, put no guardrails up. But she feared it was dipped in obligation, feared he would grow tired of always having to hold her life together. And for someone used to, not only being in the driver’s seat, but being in the car alone, Raven hated that his help made her feel weak… useless in her own life when she had been the only one holding it together for so long. 

“I can’t fucking believe you.” 

A low hiss thrown like a dagger, one that hit the target of his soul like a lethal marksman. He did not enjoy being the object of Raven’s anger, particularly because if she was angry, it was for a righteous reason. 

And she reacted just as he expected. Her body angled away from coldly, her leg shifting so his hand slid from her thigh. 

“No.” 

Her voice was firm and unwavering as Allen pulled into the one place on Earth Raven had no desire to be.  

“Rae, just hear me out. Please.” 

“I asked you… I told you to leave this alone. And you just… fuck. This isn’t fair, Michael. You can’t just… keep springing shit like this on me. It’s not fair and you know it’s not.” 

Michael had expected this particular fallout. He was more than willing to be the sacrificial lamb on the altar of Raven’s happiness if that’s what it took for her to stop hiding. He knew she had every intention of dealing with it but when Melody mentioned this week would be the last opportunity before the summer break, he knew it was now or never. And he knew she would regret not going for the rest of her life. And he would take his licks gladly and willingly, because her happiness was worth it. 

“None of the kids know you’re here, Rae. Just me n Melody. So we’re not expectin’ you to do anythin’ you don’t wanna do. If you’re really ready to let all this go n you want to leave, we’ll leave. N I’ll apologize for pushin’ it. I just think you owe it to yourself to try before n close this chapter how you want before you walk away just because you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared.” Her tone was sharper than usual, biting in a way that was still unusual for her. 

“Yea, you are. N I get that. But they want to see you. So I figured if we just came down here, maybe it’d convince you to, at least, give it a try.”

Raven scoffed, frustration coursing through her at the loveably annoying man sitting next to her. 

“No. No, this doesn’t change anything except how fucking pissed off I am. We both know I… I can’t go in there.” 

Her anger was loud, a whiplash he could not ignore. But he could still hear it. Everything masked beneath that roar, the swell she wanted to stomp out.  

Shame. 

Inadequacy. 

Guilt. 

Failure. 

This building felt like a physical monument to everything her family claimed she was. Every bad decision etched into brick and mortar. It was the first good thing in her life in so long and she took a torch to it. Perhaps she thought she could let the clock run out on facing it. May would fade into June and she a distant memory as the excitement and whimsy of summer took hold. Because here? All she saw was the girl who destroyed every good thing. Who was scared she’d just do it again.   

“I don’t know that, actually.” Quiet but firm. A challenge to the negative orator filling her brain.

“Well I do. I can’t go on there, Michael. I can’t. So hope the argument we’re gonna have tomorrow was worth it. As for tonight, Allen, please take me home. To my apartment.” 

Though silent, she knew that specification was not for Allen’s benefit but for the man next to her, to ensure he knew he crossed a line. 

However, Michael was not a man to accept defeat so easily. He held up one finger to stop him from moving the car. 

“Rae… if I really thought you couldn’t walk through that door, I wouldn’t have risked this. But I know you can and I know you want to. We both know you’ve invested too much into this community to just disappear without sayin’ somethin’. The Raven who couldn’t skip one week wouldn’t do that. Couldn’t live with that. It’s okay to be scared, I get that, but it’s also okay to trust that you built something special here. N that just maybe, regardless of what happened, they still want you here. That you still mean something to them even if you don’t feel like you should.” 

Raven’s hand gripped the car door as she fought the desire and itch to jump out and run, in her heels, back home where none of this would bother her. Perhaps because she knew he was right. Melody claimed the kids still asked about her. Every week. But she wrote it off, platitudes to ease the hurt of being fired. 

Perhaps it hurt less to assume they did not want to see her. 

“I dunno, Michael…” she whispered as Michael’s gentle but firm touch pried her lips from between her teeth. “I just… don’t think I can do it. Don’t make me do this.” 

For the first moment since they pulled into the parking lot, her anger broke and something sadder emerged into her voice. A desperation to avoid this. 

“Why? Why can’t you? Tell me. Let me help, baby girl.”

“It was one hour a week. Just one… where I felt like… good about something? About myself,” she whispered. “All the other hours were just focused on getting to the next one. But that one? I felt like I had a purpose again. I got to be fun and creative. And it felt like people needed me but for something good for a change? And they were grateful in their own teenage angsty way for whatever I could give. And it felt like I was part of something… not just looking in from the outside. And then… like I do with everything, I took a torch to it. And I just… can’t face that. Or them.” 

She picked at her cuticles in frustration at the vulnerability he demanded, the facade of anger falling back onto her face. 

“It’s probably best if they forget about me anyway. I’m a cautionary tale at best… a fable on failure or self-destruction. But it would be a lot fucking easier to learn to live with the pain of that if you stopped interfering. You can’t fix everything.” 

She held herself away from him, arms folded tight, her walls closing in fast. 

“But if you go in there, you don’t have to live with that, Rae. You can be happy o-or at least content with how this ends. I think you really don’t wanna go in there cause you don’t think you deserve it. But you created all this. Melody told me how no one else could get any sort of program like this goin’, how they begged you to stop wastin’ your time tryin’. But you were you… ‘annoyingly relentless,’ in her words.” 

He held out his hand, steady and open. Raven’s slipping into it in spite of herself. 

“She said you recruited most of the kids in there, worked and engaged with them like no one else could. I don’t think any opinions on your life outside of here negates all that effort, all the love you poured into this. They want you here. N you want to be here. And I’m not sayin’ it ain’t fair to be scared or embarrassed, havin’ your life out there like that. People analyzin’ shit they don’t really know about. It’s hard and it isn’t right or fair. But you,” his thumb grazed the soft skin of her hand, the other whisking away a falling tear. “Are fearless. Always have been. Especially for the people you love, even when it’s hard. That’s the woman I know, that’s the woman all they showed up week after week for. So go be her.” 

Raven chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment, her eyes trained on doors she walked in almost every day for a year, before his words started to eat away at her walls far faster than she could build them back. 

She quite literally hated it here. She hated that he was right. Hated that it made it difficult to sustain her anger. But she would contend with that once this was done. 

“I hate you… you know that, right?” She mused, her hand reaching for the door.  

“I know. And I’m fully prepared for you to cuss me out when we get back in the car or tomorrow if you’d prefer. I earned it. Won’t fight it.” His kiss to her forehead was hesitant, tentative, as if her anger created a current that slowed him down. But it could not deter him, not from her. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

***

Raven allowed Michael to lead her to the back of the library where the club typically met, her palm sweating against his. She expected her nerves to be worse now that she was inside, could hear the boisterous chatter echoing from the back. But it felt more like coming home after an absence. Everything was just different enough, including her, but it still felt like the place she found refuge. And not the place where she lost everything.

And Raven found herself more settled, more at peace with every step forward. And that was the surge of power she needed to be the one thing she did not often feel: brave. 

“Deep breaths. You got this and you got me,” Michael pulled her in for a kiss.

She heard exuberant laughter as they rounded the corner to the space they used for book club, all the kids spread out in the comfy couches and bean bag chairs throughout the open space. She stood back and watched for a moment, grinning at their spirited debate. Her eye caught Melody’s, offering an apologetic wave and grin.  

“And with that hot take, how about we wrap up a bit early for tonight?” 

A litany of groans and spirited requests interrupted her. 

“Because there’s someone here who wants to say hey before we head home.” She gestured toward the back of the room toward Raven. Every head turned around and before she knew it loud gasps and cheers rang out as half the room raced toward her. 

“Ms. T!” 

“You’re back!!” 

Raven grunted in laughter, tears streaming down her face, as they all essentially ran into her in a giant group hug. The troubled waters of her soul immediately eased as she greeted every student, their wide smiles proof that he was right. And she loved and loathed him for it. 

“Don’t cry, Ms. T.” 

“Yea cause then Karim’s soft ass’ll start and I can’t listen to him weepin’ the whole walk home.”

“The language, ” she reproached with a teary grin. She made sure to acknowledge every kid before they all but dragged her to a seat. 

“So…” She grinned. “Catch me up?” 

Pure mayhem.

Raven could barely hear every achievement, life update or random fact thrown at her as everyone cut each other off or chimed in to each other’s updates. 

SAT scores? The rising seniors killed it. 

Favorite book of the year? Highly controversial. 

And Raven soaked up every minute. She forgot how much she simply enjoyed being with them, their energy and humor. Their imagination. 

“So will you be back next year?” One of the younger high school students asked, interrupting everyone. 

“Yea, it’s our senior year. Shit’s about to be a movie. You can’t miss that, Ms. T.”

Raven bowed her head. The inevitable. The hard part. 

“No, I’m so sorry, you guys. But since I don’t work here anymore, I can’t.” 

“B-But… everything’s over. You didn’t do anything wrong. You could come back?” 

“Yea, yea. We want you back.” 

Raven smiled sadly, adjusting her skirt as she sat. “I wished it worked like that, yall. I’d be back in a heartbeat if I could. But I can’t. And that’s on me. And I’m so sorry that I made choices that caused that, that I hurt you guys. And it’s okay to be sad about that and miss having me here. I’m gonna miss being here too. I do miss it. And you all.” 

“It won’t be the same without you though. You started this.”

“Yea, we can’t do it without you,” Karim muttered.

“You’re right. It’ll be different. But different isn’t bad. I didn’t do anything but create the space. You guys showed up every week. And you’ll keep showing up because it wasn’t about me, right? It’s about y'all. And it’ll be different but sometimes different ends up being better or just as amazing. And even if I can’t be here physically, I’m always here for you guys. And I’m so sorry I made you all doubt that.” 

“So what’re you going to do next?” 

“If yall get married, can we come to the wedding?” Jasmine almost launched out of her seat in excitement. 

“Can we meet Ryan Coogler?” 

“Nahhh can we see the Black Panther suit? Maybe that nigga still got the gold one?” 

Raven shared an amused look over her shoulder at Michael who was simply trying to stifle laughter at this insane line of questioning. 

“The suit ain’t real, stupid.” 

“Then how did he run around in it?” 

“Next thing you know, he gon’ ask if he can take us to Wakanda too.”

The entire group dissolved into fits of laughter.

“Wait - could he fr? It was like a set or some shit??” 

“You think they built that whole ass waterfall? You’re not serious, right now?”  

“Do you know Ice Spice??” 

“Nahhhh! Future? Drake??” 

“Drakeeeee?!” Which dissolved into a heated debate on whether Drake was the correct rapper to leverage this new connection with. Which helped Raven escape having to answer their nonsensical questions. 

“Least they’re learnin’ bout networkin’?” Michael whispered in her ear jokingly as they all started to gather their things to head home. 

Raven giggled before gently shoving him with her shoulder. “Don’t make me laugh. I’m still mad at you.” But still she added, “But don’t let them hear you say that shit… you’ll network your way into fifty-leven tik tok dances or whatever the hell they be doing.” 

“Ms. T! Got a sec?” 

Jamal meandered over to her and Michael, the actor immediately falling off to the side. 

Raven immediately grinned as she looked at him. 

“So… 2250 on the SATs?” 

“Ain’t nothin’.” 

Raven’s jaw dropped as she shook her head. “Please. It’s somethin’. It’s fucking amazing!” 

“Language, Ms. T! Damn.” 

“Boy,” she rolled her eyes. “I’m so proud of you. With scores like that, you’ll get in anywhere you want. If I can help with a letter or reviewing essays, let me know. Seriously. Whatever you need. Senior year is the time to use every connection.” 

His smile was bright, hopeful. “I hear you. Ain’t gotta worry, Imma be hittin’ you up for all that. But I also just wanted to give you this.” 

He handed her a stapled essay. The paper - weathered and crumpled. A look that communicated this teenage boy threw it in his backpack every week in hopes of giving it to her. 

Connection & Community by Jamal Walker 

Her hand was slow to take the piece of paper in surprise. “What’s this?” 

“It’s just… an essay I wrote… for my English midterm. The prompt was on a time you connected with someone but didn’t really know them… or understand them. Wanted you to read it n everything happened. Mr. Richards said it was the best one of all his classes a-and he asked me to join his creative writing group after school. Wanted to make sure you got it just to say… thanks for everything.”

She could still see Jamal, a shy shorter than he is now, hunched over his homework or a book in the far corner. An air too heavy, weathered and worn for someone so young. Raven recognized that robe, recognized the weight of it from a mile away. With two younger siblings and an ailing father, the library was the only quiet place to study and do his work. He was often one of the last to leave around closing. 

He rebuffed her just as a teen would the first time they spoke. The first time she recommended a book to him. He ignored her for about a week. Until one day, he timidly asked for the name and to check it out. Nothing could have dimmed Raven’s smile that day. 

“You’re amazing, you know that? Thank you.” 

“I didn’t do anything.” 

“Yea, you did… You’re one of the reasons I fought so hard to start this. You helped me find a purpose, find me again. You helped make this happen, Jamal. And you should be proud of that too.” 

“Think it’s what we all needed?” 

Raven nodded. “Yea I think so too. You know I always got you, right? You ever need anythin’, I’ll be there.” 

“Yea I know. I imagine you’ll never need anythin’ again with him,” he joked, glancing at Michael who stood leaning into a bookshelf, watching her intently. “But I’m here for you too if you need it. Always happy to be your IT guy. Bet the gig pays better now?” he joked before sliding his backpack fully on. 

“Take care of yourself, Ms. T.” However, before he walked away, he turned. “Oh forgot two things.”

“Hmm?”

“Been tasked with tellin’ you the juniors are requesting advanced copies of your next book.” He grimaced at her wide eyes. “You knew I wasn’t gon’ be able to keep that forever, Ms. T. I tried but then Jasmine was askin’ me  and well…” he rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes growing a bit bashful as they fell to the floor. 

“Well, if Jasmine asked then I understand,” she grinned, a hint of softness at this young man, melting at the thought of making his crush happy. “The second thing?”

“And we voted n we don’t think you should take his last name. Raven Jordan’s lame. Terrible.” 

Raven let out a laugh that could only come from the soul, honest and uncontrollable. belly, boisterous laugh. “Y’all don’t know nothing about stayin’ outta grown folks’ business, do you?” 

“Not when it’s more interesting than ours and you’re the most interesting adult we know.”

“Oh God. That’s not the compliment you think it is,” she laughed. “But… I don’t disagree with the survey results. Y’all have good taste.” She grinned. “Take care of yourself too, Jamal.” 

She watched him wave at her one last time before racing to catch up with the older kids waiting by the front door before a few of the friendlier parents caught her attention. She noticed a few of the parents throw a look or two in her direction but she found that she did not care as much as she thought she would. 

Once only she, Melody, and Michael remained, she turned her attention to her two meddling conspirators. 

“I suppose you helped him orchestrate this whole thing?” Raven mused, perching against one of the long tables as Michael stood like a bodyguard behind her. 

“Well, I knew this club was proof of your stubbornness but I ain’t realize how bad it was, sis.” She squeezed Raven’s hand before smiling. “Really glad you came. They needed it and really missed you. I do my best but you had something special with them.” 

Raven waved her hand dismissively, her eyes falling to the floor for a moment. She expected to be sadder. But this no longer felt like another thing life tore from her or forced her to walk away from. Now, it felt like what it was. Something sacred, pure. Something that was bigger than Raven, something she felt sure would thrive without her. And that didn’t feel like a loss. It felt like resolution. 

“Nah… nothing special. Just gave them my best. My time. That was all they need, someone who sees them. I dunno, think they did more for me than I did for them,” she mused. “But, uh, thank you for not giving up on me and for taking this on. It was so great to see you.” Raven pulled her into a tight hug. “He’s gonna get cussed out for meddling but I did… need this. So thank you.” 

“Anytime, girl. I told you, I’m here for you. Don't ignore my calls like that again though or we’ll have to fight. And I know you ain’t got hands,” she joked as they broke apart. “Oh! I have a couple of other things the kids have been leavin’ behind for you. Art projects, short stories, and stuff.” 

Raven placed her hand on her heart, her eyes glistening. “That’s so sweet.” 

Melody grinned and rolled her eyes. “And I thought I was soft. Whew. If you give me a minute to lock up, I can grab em for you.” 

“Let me help you.” 

“You sure?” 

“Yea, we have time. Think that checklist is seared into my brain. It’ll be quicker with both of us. Babe, wanna wait outside with Allen? We just need 10 minutes.” 

She phrased it as a question but he heard the current underneath. A dismissal. It stung, being sent away, but he made this bed of thorns. He’d lie in it. 

“Sure thing. Great meetin’ you in person, Melody.” He kissed Raven softly on the cheek before jogging toward the front door. 

Raven glanced back after him for a moment before turning back to Melody. 

“So… how much trouble is he in?” 

Raven laughed as she and Melody worked to reset the room and complete the various close out tasks for the space. 

“I don’t even know, honestly. He makes it really hard to stay mad the rare time I am. It’s just… is it bad that I like where we landed but his path to get there bothers me?” Raven scratched her forehead. “He just wants to take everything off my plate, fix every problem, solve every equation before I can even think or breathe or process what I want? And when he’s right, he’s right. And I know it’s for my benefit. I just want him to…” 

“Want him to actually listen to you and what you say you need?” 

Raven’s shoulders deflated slightly as she leaned into one of the tables. “Yes. Or at least trust that I know what I need too sometimes, even if it’s in opposition to what he thinks I need. I love him so much but it can be overwhelming… his desire to fix my whole life for me. And I just don’t know… makes me worried he thinks I can’t?” 

“Feel like he doesn’t think you’re capable?” 

“Maybe. Which honestly makes me more upset at myself than him because why would he? It’s not like I wasn’t juggling more problems than solutions when we met. And I don’t know where I’d be… without his help. But now, I don’t need that, I just need him. And I think he thinks he still has to be in fix it mode. He tries so hard but it just makes him-”

“Act like a clueless man?” Melody supplied. “Even the good ones are still men, girl. They think they know everythin’, aren’t that good at listenin’ when they think they know everythin’. N that man knows you but you know yourself too. He wants to keep you happy but sometimes we gotta direct them on how to make us happy. The principle matters as much as the outcome if it matters to you.” 

“Tonight did… make me happy. So happy,” she admitted. “And it’s hard to complain about the principle when the outcome is your own happiness. But it doesn’t make me happy that coming back, facing this, wasn’t my choice? Not happy that I explicitly asked him to stay out of it and he didn’t.” Raven paused. “Like you know he bought me a car?” 

“I’m not gon’ lie to you girl, this might be where you lose me… I don’t know. Cause that 2012 Toyota you were cruising around here on was really a tragedy. I didn’t wanna say nothin’ back then but… yikes.” 

Raven threw her head back in laughter. “I know, I know. Woe is me. And my sweet old girl did finally die on me. Mechanic gave me an insane quote so I was just telling Michael about it that night, that I’d sleep on it, price out some other used cars to see what I could get. Came over the next day and there was a brand new car with a bow on it. Like he couldn’t even let me be car-less for 48 hours without him jumping in. And like I know I was running out of time here but with that and all this other stuff? Just feels like he doesn’t give me any time at all before he just decides he has to fix it himself.”

“You told him this?” 

“No, don’t even think I could articulate it before tonight honestly?” Raven chuckled as they started flickering off all the lights and Melody locked the front door. “And I don’t know… it makes me feel like a bitch for even thinking it. Michael is amazing. He treats me so well and I sound so ungrateful complaining about his one flaw… being blinded by his devotion to my happiness.” 

“Well there’s step one. Stick up for yourself… even with him. You’re allowed to want things, Raven. Need them. Demand them. And it doesn’t make you a bitch or ungrateful. That’s just what people call us when we have standards. If he loves you, he’d wanna know how to love you right. And he’ll give you grace if you need time to figure that shit out. Gotta talk to him though.” 

“Ugh. I hate talking to you.” She laughed. “No, I know you’re right. I just… he is just… he’s so sweet and loves me so much.” 

“And he’ll still be really sweet and love you so much after you give him feedback. He seems great but he isn’t gonna get it right every time. And when he gets it wrong, he deserves to know that. And you deserve to voice it.” She walked behind the front desk and grabbed her purse and a large manilla envelope. “Here’s the kids’ stuff. Mostly writing, some art projects. Most of it is… well just know James Baldwin or Toni Morrison reincarnated aren’t lurking in there but you know, A for their effort.”

Raven grinned as she leaned against the door frame, quickly glancing through a few of the things. “Well, most of them are like 13 so…” 

“I bet James was sending his teachers HEAT back then.” 

“You’re so silly.” 

Melody raised her hands in surrender. “Just saying. Well I don’t wanna hold you too much longer from dinner. Besides, that man stay lookin’ like a lost Golden Retriever without you. Turns into Eeyore when you’re too far.” Melody teased as she grabbed her purse and coat and walked toward the front door. 

“Stoppp. No, he doesn’t. But you’re good. We ain’t making that reservation anyway,” Raven shrugged. 

“Damn. Nigga can’t even eat dinner?” 

“He can eat. Just won’t be with me. Don’t worry, he’ll be forgiven by bedtime. I’m too soft for going to bed angry,” she shrugged.

She was upset but she was also reasonable and this was not worth losing out on the precious few hours of sleep she was able to get these days.

“I go to bed mad at Terrance all the time. My mama said its bad, but like sometimes I want that nigga to know, even in his dreams, that I’m pissed. Like can’t have him getting too too comfortable when I’m upset, you know?” She grinned. “But I admit it's not my best trait. But you know, just set him straight, Rae. Say what you feel and what you want and stand on it. Got me?” 

“I got you.” Both women wrapped each other in a tight hug before she walked Raven over to the car. 

“Now that you aren’t avoiding me like the damn plague, how bout we grab drinks in the next week or two?” 

“Sounds good to me. I’ll text you. Thanks for not giving up on me, Melody. Seriously.” 

Raven climbed into the car, Allen waiting so they could ensure Melody made it to her car in the parking lot. 

Michael took a look at Raven, her eyes now trained on the front door, the folder and Jamal’s essay in her lap. 

Raven nodded, smiling slightly to herself before turning her eyes toward the front. 

“Yea…I think I am.” 

***

“Still mad at me?” 

She felt him watching her before she heard him, felt his eyes follow the methodical movements of her hands as she applied shea butter to her legs. His eyes lit up with desire, yearning to have one of those legs perched on his shoulder. However, that light was extinguished by the very look on her face. A look that said he would be taking the coldest of showers tonight. 

“Yes,” she admitted, standing up to continue her nighttime routine on her side of his sink. “No… not really.” 

Michael considered it a small win that she was amenable to coming home with him instead of wallowing at her apartment. But it did not mean she was pleased with him. They forgoed dinner, grabbing random snacks once they were home, before retreating to separate corners of the house. Raven found peace in a corner in Michael’s basement to lament in frustration. She only showed her face hours later to shower and go to bed. 

“Wanna talk about it?” 

Her palms pressed into the granite counter, sighing a bit as she leaned her weight into them. Michael noticed the exhaustion in her face and shoulders nearly immediately but he refrained.  

“I like… that you push me, Michael. That you see me and the parts I really don’t want you or anyone else to see. And I wanna be with someone who pushes me when I’m doing myself a disservice, I do.” 

“But…” He prompted, her words drifting off as an aura of guilt encompassed her, as if she was afraid to tell him. Afraid to argue.  

But he was not a weak man. Nor a man who couldn’t hold both her softness and her fire. He wanted both. Needed it - even if that fire singed him. 

“Say it. I can take an argument or two, princess. Just tell me.” 

“But I’m tired of being ambushed. I love you but I’m not loving this instinct you have to push me into shit I’m not emotionally ready for without consulting or even warning me just because you think you know best. A-and I know you have the best intentions and I know you’re doing it out of love. But it’s not really fair to me. And it can’t keep happening, okay?” 

She watched as he processed her words, not rushing to defend himself or his actions or even explain them. He just listened and did not make her feel bad for using her voice, even when it was to tell him something he would not like. 

“Understood. I’m sorry, baby. Seriously. I thought…” 

She raised her hand to stop him. 

“I know what you thought and you were right so it feels like a waste to be mad about it all night. So I won’t be. I don’t mind where we ended, Michael, I just need you to start taking some different paths to get us there. Preferably ones that don’t leave me out in the dark all the time. I love how much you wanna make me happy but stuff like this? It’s not yours to fix or to force me to fix. They are mine and you’ve gotta give me space to do it.” 

“Understood. I just… wanted to help. Felt like you were hurtin’ yourself.” 

“Maybe I was, I dunno… maybe I would’ve come to it on my own eventually. But I asked you to stay out of it and you didn’t listen and you lied… again. Little white lies in pursuit of a surprise, I know. But I won’t pretend I like that this is your default. To just do what you want and hope I’m good with it when the dust settles. I won’t count this as strike two cause you struck gold this time. But I won’t be so forgiving next time though so think wisely before testing your luck again. Okay?”

“I can do that, I promise.” He closed the space between them. “Am I off physical lock down? It’s been hours, baby girl.” There was a bit of sadness in his voice, a frown as he contended the three whole hours he could not attempt to exist in Raven’s skin.

“Fine. But cuddles only,” she warned as he immediately wrapped her in his arms, Raven’s arms settling on his shoulders. 

“I love you. N I am really sorry, baby.” 

“I know you are. And you’re forgiven.”  

“Can I show you how much?” 

“Nope,” she answered sweetly, kissing him softly on the tip of his nose. “Maybe tomorrow. I’m exhausted anddd going to bed.” 

“You gon’ push me away in the middle of the night again?” 

“You’re so hot, baby. And it gets so hot in here at night.” 

Michael wrinkled his nose. Hot? The bedroom I keep at 68 degrees? 

“I just can’t have you all up on me. I don’t know why you’re complainin’... I push you away and you find your way right back five minutes later.” 

“I know where I need to be to sleep, baby.” 

“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes as she extracted herself from his arms. “Just no playin’ around, Michael. I’m serious,” She warned with a pointed finger that let him know she meant business before sauntering over to her side of the bed. 

As they settled, Michael immediately pulled Raven to him, her ass pressed against his rock-hard member. 

Raven huffed in exasperation, a laugh on her lips. “How are you turned on right now?” 

“Seein’ you stand on business bout yourself… that’s sexy as fuck. Especially when it's with me.” 

***

“Quit staring at me like that. This ain’t a regular date night.” A soft giggle as his hand gripped her inner thigh. A whisper. “We’re surrounded by your coworkers.”  

A fact Michael recognized but could not internalize as the party and the upper echelons of Black Hollywood swirled around the upscale jazz lounge. He only had eyes for Raven. The soft supple skin of her breasts pressing tightly against the plunging V of her dress, the wine-colored leather hugging her curves as if it had been painted onto her skin, the glint of the silver buckle that cinched it at her waist, how her soft smile glowed in the candlelight of their table. 

A tucked away table she couldn’t be more appreciative of as they enjoyed a private Jean Baptiste concert. It was the perfect blend of work and play Michael and Raven got to listen to one of her favorite artists. 

The lounge smelled of money, velvet, and seduction. Rich hues of brown leather coated every seat, soft candlelight illuminated each table, creating low lighting and shadows that shrouded each table in quiet intimacy. Romance.

“Seen half these niggas do every damn drug on the market, they can watch me feel up on my lady. Hell, I should take you to one of those bathrooms n show you how fuckin’ sexy you are right now,” he whispered, his voice low and deep in her ear. 

Raven turned her head away from him as pure heat crept up her cheeks as one set of fingers danced along her spine and the other set stayed glued to her inner thigh as if there was no safer home for it. She was grateful for the standing ovation that interrupted his plans, Raven using it to take a sip of her water and cool off. 

Conversation broke across the quiet space as they went into an intermission. 

“Oh seein’ Ryan reminded me n I don’t wanna keep forgettin’. Gotta show you some of the new pieces of art I’m lookin’ at for the house. He hooked me up with a curator he uses. Think it’s time for a reset, some new shit. I think you’ll like what she’s pulled. But I want your ok.” 

Raven’s chuckle was loaded with doubt, her eyes filled with skepticism as she picked up her club soda.

“It’s your house, baby. Happy to look but I love all your art now, don’t need my okay.” 

“Technically but-” 

“Technically, legally, monetarily, spiritually, literally in every way a house exists…” Raven added, ticking each one off on her fingers. 

Michael could not help but roll his eyes, partially because he did not have a retort. She was not wrong. But fuck, how he wished she was. How he wished she saw his home, in every tangible and intangible way, as theirs. Hell, he had almost drawn up the paperwork to have her name added to the deed but he knew in his heart she wouldn’t sign it, not yet anyway. 

“But it’s our home. Emphasis on our. N whatever we get now can go in this home or in an entirely new one. A house that’s technically, legally, monetarily, spiritually ours in every way a house exists.”

“I hate you,” she muttered with a laugh, before something struck her mind. “Wait… don’t actually buy me a house, Michael. Seriously.” 

“Damn. Niggas can’t even buy houses these days? That’s crazy. Can I, at least, get you another club soda? Or you wanna try a cocktail?” 

Raven tilted her head side to side as she contemplated his question. 

“Think I’ll stick with club soda. Feeling okay, don’t wanna jinx it.”  

“Aight,” he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. “Be right back.” 

“Michael! My man!” Sterling K. Brown’s voice stopped Michael in his tracks, the two hugging and immediately falling into banter. “How you been? Congrats again. Started off the year with a crazy run, brah.” 

“Hey listen, man, still just takin’ it all in. Finally gettin’ some sleep,” he joked. “But walk wit me. Gotta grab her a drink.”

“No, no.” Raven immediately stood up, her hand gently patting Michael's arm as she offered Sterling a hug. “You two stay. Sit. Catch up.” 

“But I-” 

“I can get one drink for myself tonight, promise,” she kissed him softly before walking over to the lounge’s bar. 

Raven eased into one of the rich indigo velvet stools at the bar, her dress falling like a secret dipped in blood around her. She had gravitated toward the quieter side of the bar as more people left their tables to mingle. But without Michael, she had no interest in mingling. She just sought pockets of quiet.

She stared at her reflection in the bar’s mirror, her hand adjusting one curl in her hair before offering a gentle nod in satisfaction. She looked good. She felt good. And lately, that was something all on its own. And she was grateful for it. She knew she did not have many more sick days before a certain boyfriend dragged her to the doctor kicking and screaming. 

Raven was just not ready to burst whatever soft bubble this was. Perhaps because she knew something was not right, just as Michael suspected. She was not ready to confront another curveball, ready to contend with whatever hell fate was about to send her way, not when everything still felt too new. 

“Club soda, please? And a whiskey neat.” She asked when she caught the bartender’s attention, remembering that Michael’s glass was getting low. 

One of us should enjoy a drink, she mused, her anxiety over getting sick keeping her from any beverage other than tea and water these days. 

“Can’t believe that nigga makin’ you get your own drink. Havin’ you up here alone lookin’ this gorgeous gotta be a crime.” 

Perhaps if his introduction had not been an insult to her boyfriend, Raven would not have been so put off. But she found that she did not even want the compliment as a deep baritone hit her ear. And once her brain recognized the owner of that voice, she most certainly didn’t want it from him. 

“Raven, right? Terrance. Think we’ve met?” he held out his hand, Raven accepting it. Though she knew, by the cocky grin on his face, that he knew she didn’t need the introduction. 

Everyone knew Terrance McCombs, an actor certainly on or close to Michael’s caliber by anyone’s standards. And now, with real life insight into the celebrity gossip she used to consume in passing, she knew that while no one would dare deny his talent, no one liked him either. 

Too big for his britches, as her grandmother would say. 

She knew his motivations were far from friendly or even neutral after taking a verbal swing at Michael and failing miserably weeks ago. After a paparazzi asked him how he felt about losing out on what would end up being Michael’s Oscar-winning role, instead of giving the boilerplate humble answer most actors would, Terrance remarked that Michael was the easy choice for a studio, that they were not interested in a fresh face, a rawer talent.  

While Michael let the comment roll off his back with ease, the internet was not so forgiving. After a solid 48 hours of dragging, he issued an apology… through gritted teeth. But Raven could still see it, feel it. His bitterness. It was cologne and he drowned himself in it.

That one… it was a particularly blinding drug in Raven’s opinion. And Raven knew that bitter wounded animals often lashed out.

“Terrance. Good to see you.” Her tone conveyed just enough warmth to not seem rude but not enough to invite more. For anyone who could take the hint. 

“You need some company?” 

Guess he can’t.

“Just grabbing a refill before the show. Thanks.”

He leaned casually against the wooden spokes of the bar beside her. “No need to be uptight, sweetheart. Just wandered over here to escape the noise, myself. Shit’s overwhelming.” 

And yet… you’re talking. 

So she simply nodded in agreement and continued willing the bartender to finish her drinks just a bit quicker. She had to have ordered the two easiest things.  

“I like em, don’t get me wrong,” he added. “These concerts n parties n shit but workin’ the room is exhaustin.’ Well… for some people. He don’t seem to get tired of it, huh?”

“No he doesn’t. But not everyone can be as…” she tilted her head before deciding on, “Magnetic as him. Can’t replicate that.” 

Her words were offered like a poisonous dessert on a gilded platter. Dressed in sweetness but its foundation was lethal. A reminder and a warning, aimed at where it would bruise the most. His pride. And she didn’t hate how her eye twitched slightly at it. He recovered. Just not quick enough. 

“Hm. Everyone loves Michael.” 

Her frame flooded with gratitude as the bartender slid her both their drinks across the bar. 

“There’s a lot to love. And I think I should go find him. Sure they’re about to start.” She tucked her clutch under her arm, both hands grabbing their drinks. However, in those two seconds, she found that he boxed her in. His hands on the back of her chair and the bar so there was nowhere to go. 

She did not feel threatened. Perhaps simply frustrated by his manipulation of their surroundings. The setting, the crowd. No one wanted to be the reason rumors emerged the next day. So no one made a scene. And he knew Raven, of all people, wouldn’t either. 

“Doubt he knows how to love a woman like you though.” 

Raven bristled, shocked at his brazenness. “Excuse me? 

“Just saying, I’d make it worth your while. I’d know how to treasure a woman like you.” 

“I doubt that.” Raven dismissed him with ease. “And I’m not interested. As you know. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” 

He leaned into her ear, Raven immediately leaning back as far as the chair would allow her. Though she wondered if letting it topple backward would be the escape she needed. She contemplated, for a brief second, how much pain it would be to risk the fall as his hot, scotch-stained breath hit her. Far too close for comfort. His hand left the bar to rest on the side of her exposed thigh. 

She tried to jerk it away but he made sure there was no where to go.   

“Come on, baby… I’d treat you right. Know how a woman like you likes to be touched… likes to be fucked. Ain’t no way that boy scout fuckin’ you like you deserve.” 

“Well, some other woman like me is going to have to find out because I’m. Not. Interested. Move out of my way.” 

She issued it as the warning it was. Because he didn’t seem to understand that every second she sat there, the closer a far less merciful man came. 

“What? You think he’s better than me? You think you’re better than me? Sellin’ your ass for a ticket in? Yea we all know what you are. Just cause that nigga dresses you up doesn’t make you less of a slut who got paid to fuck him.”

Raven let the words wash over here before she let them slide right off. She was not about to let a jealous man-child shame her for anything. 

“And yet, here you are trying to get me in your bed so you can what? Beat Michael at something? You know, I’d recommend therapy for dealing with the loss of that role. Mainly because that seems less painful than when I knee you in the balls for not letting me leave. And definitely less painful than whatever my boyfriend’s gonna do when he gets over here in about 10 seconds and sees your hand still on my thigh. So. That’s the last warning you’re gonna get to move out of my way.” 

Silence.

He sucked his teeth. Humbled. Embarrassed. Before his hand fell and his body shifted out of her way. 

In the nick of time really as Michael immediately appeared behind him, moving to stand by Raven. He immediately stood in the space between them, clearing noting a tension that should not have existed. 

“There a problem?” He did not even look at Raven but the question was most certainly to her. And that was sexy as fuck, the power that radiated off of him as he stood like a tree between her and a perceived threat. The glint in his eyes that told everyone he was not to be trifled with. 

Raven held out Michael’s drink with a soft smile. “I dunno. Terrance, is there a problem?” 

A beat. Silence. 

“Then no. We’re good. Let’s get back before they start. I don’t want to miss anything.”

Raven pressed a soft kiss to Michael’s lips before throwing a dismissive look toward Terrance. Michael took the kiss for what it was, an assurance, a bid for trust that she handled the situation. And he believed she had by the embarrassment etched in every pore of his face, how rage seemed to overtake him. And that did not make him want to stand down just yet. But a gentle squeeze of Raven’s hand forced his feet to move, forced him to do as she asked and not force the issue.

One more step and they would’ve been out of earshot. And despite whispering it, the two words sounded like an explosion of his hostility. His bitterness. 

“Fuckin’ whore.” 

Michael whipped around before the words even hit Raven’s ear.

“Fuck you just say?” 

Lethal. So lethal even the bartender stopped moving. Raven stopped breathing.

“I ain’t mean nothin-” 

Michael advanced on the man before any of them could blink an eye, his back now pressed into the very bar he trapped Raven’s by. He did not even touch him, just challenging him toe to toe. And despite Terrance’s height on Michael, Michael’s thick and muscular frame created a far more imposing and intimidating opponent. 

“Don’t you ever in your pathetic fuckin’ life say some shit like that to her. You think I won’t beat yo ass just cause niggas in suits n shit? Say that shit round me again n see what happens. You understand me?” 

While Raven did not want Michael to get into a fight on her behalf, she could not deny how it almost stopped her in her tracks. Stocked embers in her core that were not appropriate for the moment. It was not even him coming to her defense. It was his speed. How it was not something he even had time to process, how his instincts simply moved him into action like it would do so to protect himself. Only this was to defend her. Protect her. 

And well… Raven could not deny she found it intoxicating. To see this version of him unleashed. 

Dark.

Dangerous. 

Despite getting lost in her own fog of lust, Raven knew that the fog of testosterone was growing thicker by the millisecond. Dense and oppressive for Raven and the poor bartender still awkwardly paralyzed in his spot. 

Raven knew it would be on her to end this. She knew attention was exactly what Terrance wanted, the rumors that would swirl that Michael punched him. And no one would know that it was in defense of her. A simple game, a silly one in this case, Raven wagered. Terrance can’t see beyond his own hubris to recognize that he and Michael were simply not the same. 

And that ultimately, Michael would not give a fuck what anyone had to say if he punched him. He would stand ten toes down and his reputation gave him that privilege, that power. And that took his entire career to build, years of work. And Terrance had no such credibility. In this room or out in the world. 

But Raven also did not want to be the cause of another scandal in Michael’s life, whether he cared or not. She did not think she could live with that. 

Raven slid her hand onto his chest, a gentle push into his hard chest. 

“Relax, baby. I’m good. He isn’t worth it. And the show’s about to start.” 

Raven did not even spare the other actor a glance as she pressed her lips against Michael’s cheek, finally clearing enough of the fog for him to take a step back.

She glanced around, noting that no one seemed to have noticed as Jean returned to the stage. She let out a little sigh of relief as they quietly sneaked back to their table. 

He shifted his chair closer to her, leaning into her. 

“You sure you’re alright?” His concern felt like a settling embrace, that breath of relief after a patch of turbulence. 

“Yea, I’m good. Thank you, daddy,” she whispered, her lips pressing softly against his beard. 

“Careful, princess.”

Flames. They crawled, they danced. They taunted Raven, burning her their desire and need. This felt unholy, unreasonable. To want another as deeply as she wanted him. 

She willed time to speed up. For the concert she had been looking forward to end so she could be in his skin. But as she watched him, the smooth jazz of the savant on stage mere background noise, she questioned whether she would make it to his home. Whether this need and tension in her bones would not consume her until there’s nothing left. 

She noticed everything. How his eyes remained guarded, observant and protective. How they glanced at her every few moments, filled with both lust and concern. How his free hand balled into a fist as if the memories made him want to find Terrance in the crowd again. Every flex of his muscles, twitch of his brow made the pressure building in her belly rise. 

She leaned into his ear. “Or what?” 

The look he gave her? Dangerous couldn’t even capture it. Lethal. Feral. 

“Bathroom’s last door on the left. Go.” 

Raven’s thighs clenched together at his voice. She was soaked. 

She moved. Quietly, quickly to the last bathroom door on the left. 

Door unlocked. 

The air pulsed. Raven paced. Her hands shook because there was nothing else to do. But wait. Wait as need pressed down on her, heavy and restless. 

He did not make her wait long. Just long enough to evade suspicion. Their time would be short but it would be worth it. A short fix of this particular drug was better than none at all. 

She was grateful he did not make her wait long, the man sliding into the heavy wooden door before locking it behind her. He turned his head over his shoulder, Raven pausing her restless pacing. He could see it. How her need made her body literally hum for him, a sweet siren song that had him straining against his slacks. 

His grin was that of a villain surveying a prize, as if he knew exactly what had her about to beg for it in a public bathroom. 

“You liked that, princess?” A hand in the pocket of his loose black slacks, the other rubbing his beard as he stalked toward her. “Liked me puttin’ that nigga in his place for you?” 

He backed her into the marble counter, noting every hitch in her breath, twitch of her head as he grew closer and closer. He knew he did not have long but he had long enough. 

“You can admit it. I won’t tell on you, baby,” he chuckled. Dark. Angry. “Shoud’ve let me break his fuckin’ jaw.” 

Raven let out the first sharp exhale since he came within arm’s length. His hand landed firm on her hip, the touch bursting the lid on everything Raven was holding back. 

Her hand gripped his neck as she pulled their bodies flush for a kiss. More than a kiss. Something both possessive and tender. How his hands held her against him like something precious. Claimed. 

She could taste the whiskey on his tongue as they devoured each other, their movements growing sloppier and needier by the second. 

They broke away to breath, cursed human needs, Michael’s lips reattaching to her neck. Right where she was most sensitive. 

“Fuckkkkk…” she moaned. “I loved it.” 

Michael’s hands anchored against her waist, spinning Raven around. She hissed against the cool marble counter, her palms finding purchase as he put her in the position he required. No questions, no breaks. 

“Gone be hard for you but gotta be quiet, sweetheart.” 

His hands made quick work of their obstacles: their clothes. His lips couldn’t leave her neck, gentle nips and sucking against her skin as he pushed her dress up to her waist and quickly undid his belt buckle. 

The only pause in his movement? A tender touch of his fingers against her warmth, already slick with her arousal. Despite the ticking clock in his brain, he stopped. Stopped to worship at her throne. How could he not when his actions caused this? When her body responded to him like this?

He dove his fingers into her roughly, Raven crying out, coating his fingers in sweet nectar. Her ass pushed back against his fingers, her core clenching around him, in a silent bid for more. 

“All this for me, baby? You know I’d have done it, right? Broken that sorry-ass nigga till he was a bloody heap at your feet. Make sure every nigga in here knows. No one touches what’s mine. No one disrespects what’s mine. Who else could have you like this, baby? Cock-drunk n beggin’ for it in the bathroom.” 

His fingers pressed against her lips, Raven’s eyes averting the mirror as she greedily accepted. The strings of her pleasure clung to his fingers like honey, stretching lewdly in front of her as he separated his fingers. She lapped her own juices off like it was the sweetest treat, like the fiend she was.

Desperate. 

Hungry. 

“Please.” Breathless, desperate, needy. He heard all of it. Saw how she couldn’t control the grind in her hips against his member. 

“You right, princess. We ain’t got much time,” he muttered with a sigh that held a bit of melancholy. 

He let out a satisfied groan as he sank into her heat, her warmth pulsing around him. He kept his eyes trained on her face, loving when he could watch the moment he filled her. Whether he went slow, forcing her to contend with the stretch of every inch of him, or in one stroke, reminding her of his power, he wanted to see it. The moment she opened up for him, how her lips parted in a deep moan, how tears misted her eyes. How they fluttered closed in ecstasy. 

“Dadddyyyyy… fuck. Feels so good.” 

“Tell me what you liked about it, baby.”  

Raven’s head lulled forward for a moment as she tried to catch her breath, trying to adjust to his attempts to rearrange her guts in a five-minute quickie. The night had unleashed a beast, figuratively and literally. And while she asked for this, she now questioned, as he pounded into her with abandon, if she knew exactly what she signed up for. 

“You d-didn’t hesitate.” 

“Why would a nigga hesitate with you, baby?” He growled in her ear, gleeful at how she clenched around him. “Think I’d burn all this shit down for you n this pussy n not think twice about it. And what that tell you about me? What I keep tellin’ you?”

The clap of his hips against her ass sounded as punishing as it felt as he demanded she say the truth she never believed, never wanted to test. But there was no room for doubt here. If she overexamined this situation 100 different ways, every single road led back to one single truth. 

“Say it.” 

“You’ll always choose me r-regardless.”  

Her words? Something low like a whisper, a vulnerable truth she had not always been able to see or voice, caught between a breath and a suppressed moan. 

She didn’t need to elaborate. He understood. What it meant to her. To be chosen and claimed loudly, without hesitation, without regard or care for the consequences. To not be a secret or half truth she sometimes believed she still deserved to be. But to be his. In every light. In every room. No matter who was watching or what they had to say. 

He shifted one hand to her shoulder, giving his relentless pace more power. 

Raven tried to match him, bouncing her ass back against him but he was too quick, too forceful. She could only hold onto the counter and take what he provided. Tears sprang to her eyes, her breath no more than shallow pants, each purposeful and devoted drive of his hips brushing against her g-spot. 

“Look at you, baby. So fuckin’ beautiful. Creamin’ on this dick.” 

He was quick, punishing, but never sloppy. His weight pressed into her back, every thrust a testament in stone to his strength, his power. To ensure the truth was starting to become etched into her soul like a psalm.  

She was his. 

Only his. 

And he would make damn sure everyone knew it. 

“Nah, nah. Don’t take your eyes off that mirror.” 

An order. An evil one. Her eyes immediately tried to fall closed as he pulled her down and thrust into her with a particularly deep thrust. 

“FUCK!” 

“Don’t make me gag you, sweetheart. Eyes open, on the mirror and keep that pretty mouth fuckin’ shut, understand?”

“Yes, yes… I’m s-sorry, baby.” she whispered in a sob as she forced her low eyes to the mirror. 

Michael loved watching Raven watch herself, whether it was while she touched herself or while he ate her out. It started as a punishment once when she made a comment about her weight. A way for her to force her to see herself how he did. Beautiful, uninhibited, free. 

She forced her eyes open to watch. She looked at ease, her bottom lip drawn between her teeth, her head lulling back every so often or to the side to give him more access for his lips. She found her eyes more focused on him than herself. The flex of his muscles as he held onto her, how his eyes seemed as drunk on her as she was on him. But still held the fire that started this. That righteous anger of disrespect he needed to exercise from his system. 

And she was his canvas. And with every stroke, she saw that emotional release for the both of them. 

“Fuck. Just like that. Thank you, daddy!” 

His pace dissolved into pure chaos, fucking in and out of her like his life depended on it. And in some ways, it did. 

His hand went to Raven’s mouth as her cries grew too loud for his comfort as she came undone around him, not that he blamed her. He could tell she tried. Could hear the guilt-laced ‘I’m sorrys’ muffled against his hand. 

His sweet girl always tried. 

Her eyes were just endless seas of lust, every logical thought replaced with only thoughts of him. Where his hands would go next, would he be rough or tender? Was he close? Would he fill her? He could see the questions swirling behind those eyes, her brain a one-stop shop of him. And when they were like this? That’s all she needed to be concerned about.

So he could be concerned about the rest. Like how to keep her quiet, and right now, his fingers felt like a solid pacifier. 

“That’s it, baby. You wanna keep quiet for me, don’t you? Don’t want everyone to know how good daddy feels when he’s deep in this sweet pussy. How quick I can make you cum? How much of a mess you make for me?” 

And a mess it was. His eyes left the mirror only to watch how her essence coated his hard thickness, covered him with every push of his hips in and pull out of her. It was obscene, how she shined on his length, how she gushed around him. For him. 

“Fuckin’ mess. Wish you could see this shit, princess. You creamin’ on this dick. Want me to cum in this pussy, baby?” 

“Yes, yes, yes!” Or at least, that’s what she hoped he heard, her words a gargled sob with his hand covering her mouth. Her head frantically nodding back and forth with every jerk of her body into the counter. 

But the entire club would be hearing a different sort of show if he was not muffling her. 

His weight, his strength, kept her pinned, forced to ride every stroke out exactly as he intended. No shying, no running. Every inch of him reminding her, not of his love but, of his devotion, his care. Forcing her to reckon with it with every stroke.  

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I hear you.” A sweet and tender assurance that didn’t match the snap of his hips. Unyielding as he sought to bury his seed as deep in her as possible. 

Raven might have seen the heavens themselves as she felt him release inside her, a deep groan filling her ear as he kissed the now dewy skin of her shoulder. He did not move, even here, remembering how Raven hated feeling that cold emptiness immediately after an intense session ended. Even if he had to collapse on top of her, he paused to let her settle, allowing her to still feel tethered to him. 

He held her for a few moments, his ears not hearing a knock at the door or quiet whispers, awkward pacing. Perhaps  their escape had gone unnoticed. 

He snaked an arm under her to hold her, quiet and protective. Far more tender than his touch had been moments ago as the haze cleared and her breathing slowed. 

“You’re fuckin’ beautiful, baby,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. 

He grinned at how it settled around her, how her smile softened. 

“Thank you.” 

“Let me get you cleaned up, real quick, aight?” 

She groaned quietly at his retreat, missing the warmth of connection. Being full. But the side of her brain he fucked out of her? That side that knew she was in a public bathroom knew this ache would just be temporary. The night was still very young. And she knew neither of them had enough. 

He turned her in his arms, adjusting her dress with a meticulous and loving eye. By the time he was done, they looked almost exactly as before. 

He took her hand in his, checking if the coast was clear before leading them both out of the bathroom. However, before they turned the corner to go back to their seats, Raven’s fingers slipped around his bicep, halting him. 

She pressed the softest kiss to his lips. 

A quiet profession of gratitude. Reverent. 

He did not need to say a word. He simply deepened the kiss, holding her close to him. 

“Hell of a thank you, baby girl,” he grinned, filled with mischief. 

Raven raised an eyebrow, the ghost of a woman who made a living off teasing resurfaced.

“Who said that was my thank you? Better hope this concert ends soon.” 

She threw a devilish look over her shoulder before interlacing their fingers and sauntering back to their seats, Michael’s eyes glued on her ass every step of the way. 

No one was getting any sleep tonight. 

***

“Fuckkkkk, that’s it, baby. Ride this dick. Bouncin’ on my shit like it was made for this pussy, princess.” 

Michael’s encouragement spurred Raven forward, her hips bouncing against him. 

Slap. 

The sounds filling Michael’s master suite had been filthy. 

Wet. 

Unholy. 

After Raven squirted the second time, Michael knew they would require a shower. The sheets? Soaked. Them? Drenched in her honey and his seed. Raven could not remember the last time she felt this overcome with need. No round seemed like quite enough. 

This was the finale. Her thank you was sincere. She crawled to him, offered him thanks with her throat for as long as he pleased. More than just to provide pleasure, she worshipped at the altar of his body on her knees. 

She begged. Pleaded to ride him to completion. Who was he to deny her? 

And she performed. 

She bathed in the few rays of moonlight seeping through his curtain. He didn’t dare close his eyes. Not when she looked like this above him. He had never seen a more beautiful and sexy being in all his days. 

Her body glistening above him, back arched, her breasts perky and begging to be sucked and bit, her pussy snapping around him. 

Raven let what felt natural, good take over. She did not overthink, there was nothing to think about besides him. And she knew him. Knew what made him sweat. What made him moan. 

She alternated between slow grinds that made his eyes roll back into his head, his head to lull to the side in soft pleasure as he showered her with praise, and a bounce that made him aggressive, his hands squeezing and slapping her tits to his content while his words grew filthy, nasty. 

“You love ridin’ this dick, don’t you, princess? Love how I feel? That ache in your thighs? That control? Know you love that shit.” 

“I… do!” 

She increased her speed, her pussy clenching down on him as she thrust. Wet. Loud. The sounds of her juices were music to his ears, balm against his soul.

Raven bounced with abandon, sliding a hand to his thick thigh to bounce faster. She threw her head back with a cry as her clit brushed against his skin with every thrust, shock waves shooting through her. 

The power she held was a high all on its own. He was putty in her hands, his body reminding her that he responded to her just as she did him. She grasped his hands, fingers interlocked as she leaned in, pinning them above his head.  Her mouth latched onto his ear, her tongue teasing his skin, the man groaning as he thrust his hips upward erratically. 

His sweet spot. 

“Don’t think I tell you… enough…” she whispered, her words low and hoarse. 

Michael’s lips immediately caught one of her nipples as her heavy tits swung back and forth with every bounce on his dick. Her words died as she gasped, the electricity current going straight to her core. 

“Can’t even think straight when I start suckin’ on these, huh?” 

“N-No…” she moaned. His touch was a grenade to the words formulating in her brain as the tip of him pressed into her g-spot and he punctuated it with a sharp bite to the swell of her breast. 

Fuck. W-what were we going to say? Her brain short-circuited.  

She grasped his chin, bringing his eyes to hers as their foreheads touched. Their bodies didn’t stop, even as Raven slowed time to hold his attention, her hips kept bouncing, his lips still searching for somewhere to caress, lick, bite. 

But she held him there. For a single second of stillness, grinding so deep Raven could feel him in her belly. 

“I-I’ll always c-choose you too. Regardless. I don’t want anyone else and no one could take me away from you. Ever.” 

She sealed her proclamation with a kiss, sweet but he felt the apology in it. As if she also recognized he needed an assurance or two tonight as well. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist, her words activating his hips to thrust into her. His fingers dug painfully into her ass cheeks as he thrust in and out of her. 

“Fuckkkkk… yesss daddy. Fuck this pussy,” she begged. 

“Whose pussy is this, baby?” 

“It’s yours!” 

“You think anyone else can fuck this pussy like I can? Take care of it, protect it like daddy can?” 

“No! No one! It’s yours.” 

She bit into the soft flesh of his neck as he took charge, plowing into her like a man with something to prove, a reminder to issue. 

“Shit! Fuck, daddy! I-It’s too… I-I c-can’t…” The words were caught in her throat, overpowered by moans of ecstasy and screams of passion. 

Michael let out a guttural yell as he slammed into her, holding her firm on his lap as his release filled her. Hot, thick pumps coating her with a warmth that made her go boneless, soft against his chest. She whispered a quiet thank you against his neck as he held her close. 

Like a promise. 

His arms remained tightly wrapped around her, even as he deflated inside her heat, one hand tangling up in her curls to anchor her against the warmth of his chest. Safe. Secure. Another just rubbed soothing circles into her back. Neither moved, the air still with sex and something hallowed. Like a prayer neither of them needed to utter out loud but both could hear. 

Raven tried to push herself into a seated position, her legs still straddling his thighs. However, as she moved, she felt the room shift, jerking into a spin she did not ask for. 

No doubt, she adored when Michael threw her world off its axis. That orgasmic, high space he sent her to after a session like this? It was light, airy, and made Raven feel like she was tasting sweet freedom for the first time. Every time.

This though? Everything just felt heavy, exhausted. Uncomfortable. It made her slump back down against him, her forehead now pressed into his chest, his skin wet and tacky with sweat. 

“You’re aight, baby? Just take a breath. No rush.”

He could tell she was spent, exhausted. More than she typically seemed to be. Noticed it in, not just the slowness of her movement, but the sluggishness. How her energy well seemed to not just be low but near empty. He ran his hands up and down her back, soothing and calm against her skin as he let the room settle, letting her heart rate slow. 

“Better?” 

“I-I think so,” she muttered against his skin. “Sorry. Got dizzy, I think. That was… intense.” 

“Wanna try a bath?” 

Typically, she basked in Michael’s aftercare. He always knew exactly what her body and mind needed to feel whole after taking her apart. And he never short-changed the process. He methodically put her back together piece by piece every time for as long as it took. 

But tonight, she questioned whether she’d stay awake long enough to slide into the bathtub. To even enjoy it. Tonight, she just needed him. To be held. She buried her face into his neck, her nestling deeper into him signaling just that. 

“Okay princess. I gotchu,” he muttered against her neck. “Just rest.” 

She breathed him in, allowing his scent to soothe her. 

“You alright?” 

“Yea… just got a little lightheaded, baby.”

“Don’t worry, Imma come back to that. I meant what he said, baby.” 

Raven should’ve known the night could not end without a discussion about the catalyst. It happened more than Michael realized, more than she’d admit out loud. The joke she wasn’t meant to hear, the snickering and catty name-calling here or there. She found that they slowly lost their sting, Raven more so worried about the things she didn’t hear, the ones Michael heard but kept to himself. 

“Oh. Yea. Not the first guy who's gonna call me a whore, I’m afraid. He was mad he got rejected, trying to get a leg up on you. Knew I was an easy target to get a reaction. It was silly. We handled it. I’m good.” 

“You sure? You know you’re not-” 

Raven silenced him. “Michael, stop. I’m okay, really. If I let stuff like that get to me, I would’ve folded a long time ago. It stings but that’s all it does. I know what some people will think about you the moment you make that exchange. And I don’t care about wasting my time trying to change that. I’m not ashamed of making a living. Mainly I…” she closed her eyes for a moment. “Just feel guilty that it was… how we met.” 

Her voice trailed off, thoughtful and quieter. Vulnerable. 

“That you… have to hear that sort of stuff from people and online. Because of me. It’s not… really fair to you.” 

Michael stilled, her words a gut punch he had not expected in bed at 3 am. And so typically her. Unbothered by how such disrespect affected her because she was too busy twisting herself in knots about how it reflected on him. 

“I’m not.” 

“Not what?” 

“Ashamed. I love our story, Rae. And nothing’s gon’ change that for me. These niggas’ opinions don’t mean shit to me. I just wanna make sure you know you can come to me. If someone crosses a line, if he comes at you again, I wanna know about it. I don’t care where we are, what event, if you feel disrespected, I’ll knock all this shit over for you.” 

“I know. I promise… He was backing off. Just being a dick and he learned his lesson. I’m good with that. I do appreciate the assist though and where it landed us. You certainly sent a message,” she grinned, her lips gently sucked on his earlobe, Michael’s head turning away with a strangled groan. 

She was insatiable. But he knew her body had hit a limit, even if she did not want to acknowledge it.  

“Nahhh, take it easy, princess. Rest. I ain’t havin’ you pass out on me tonight. You’re exhausted.” 

He was not wrong. Even as her core buzzed and pleaded for him, every other part of her begged her to close her eyes and let sleep in. Exhaustion banged at her gates, an enemy she knew always claimed victory eventually. 

“D-Don’t know why,” she mumbled, letting her body relax fully against him again, knowing she was perfectly safe. “Think that third orgasm just did me in.” 

“Think it’s time for a doctor’s appointment, Rae. You ain’t ever been like this after three. Three is light work for us.” 

“No, no. I’m alright, I think it’s just… from all the sleep I lost, when I was sick. I just need a couple more days, baby.” 

“You been sayin’ a couple more days for the last two weeks. Let me call my doctor if you don’t wanna pay o-” 

Raven shook her head immediately, not wanting her health to be another thing on his punch list, another responsibility she burdened him with. 

“N-No, no. I don’t want you to do anything. Just give me a couple more days. I do… think I’m on the mend. I’ll make an appointment if I get sick again, I promise. Okay?” 

Michael was torn. He promised to do a better job of listening, of waiting for her to require assistance before forcing that assistance upon her. But he wished he had advocated for a few exceptions, particularly her health.

Because something was not right here. He knew it and he knew she did as well. But he also knew there was a line and he had already overstepped it once. He couldn’t ignore an explicit ask again, despite desperately wanting to. 

“Okay. Couple more days, Rae. Then we’re gettin’ you checked out. I hate seein’ you like this.”

“Deal.” Mainly because she knew she would not be able to keep him at bay for much longer. As she drifted off, she sent one prayer up that whatever was wrong was truly on the mend.

She refused to bring him anymore problems, anymore burdens. 

***

“There are my two favorite ladies.” 

Michael’s smooth tenure interrupted Raven and his mother’s conversation over breakfast, a slight jogging pace bringing him into the kitchen. 

Light from his floor-to-cieling patio doors streamed in, the speakers playing a radio station his mom listened to lowly, the pair bent over Raven’s phone like two besties. It happened far more organically than he expected, the relationship between Raven and his mom. And he was grateful for it. Grateful she went out of her way to not only make Raven feel welcome in their home but, into their family. There was no pettiness, no territorial spats. Just respect and care. 

“Whatchu two conspiring bout?” he joked, his lips peppering Raven’s cheek and neck with kisses before going to hug his mother. 

He leaned against the counter, the sunlight illuminating his rich skin as he stole a strawberry off Raven’s plate and tossed it into his mouth. 

Even eating fruit is sexier when he does it. Breathing is sexier when he does it. 

Her eyes consumed him as if he were her bible. The gospel etched in a simple form-fitting black tank top and black slacks. A psalm in the shine of his gold Cuban link chain resting gently around his neck. Hymns sung in every soft flex of his bicep. 

Where’s he going again? It can’t be that important? Raven thought to herself from behind her coffee mug, wondering exactly what tricks she’d need to pull out to convince him to return to his bedroom and spend the day enraptured in each other.  

“Rae?” 

“Hmm?” She bit her lip. 

His cocky grin let her know he noticed her mental vacation, how he could transfix her thoughts without a word. 

“Asked what you two were gettin’ up to?” 

“Oh, I was just talking your mom’s ear off about some of those illustrators I told you about while she waits for your sister. For the map and the cover…” 

“Never talkin’ my ear off, girl. I love to hear about your work,” his mom rubbed her leg, Michael noting how Raven’s eyes warmed. “I’m gonna go run some errands with your sister and the baby for the afternoon. You look handsome, baby.” 

“Thanks, mama. Tell her I said hey n ‘em a kiss for me, aight? I’d stick around but I’m already a bit behind schedule, Allen’s like 5 minutes out.” He bestowed a last peck against her cheek before moving to Raven’s side, a hand going to her bare thigh and the other rubbing her arm. 

“N you, baby girl?”

“Just got some edits back so just some writing. But do you mind if I take the car? Might go exploring a bit, see if there are any good writing spots for when I want a change of scenery and don’t wanna go back home.” 

Michael bowed his head slightly in his mother’s direction for just a millisecond, the older woman’s eyes almost identical to her son’s in the way she noticed too much, observed too much, where Raven was concerned. Different… maternal but still piercing. And it rattled her.  

“I ain’t answerin’ that cause you gotta stop askin’ to use your car.” He lowered his voice to a low whisper he knew only Raven could hear, “Keep playin’ with me n it’s gettin’ added to your rules, understand?” 

Don’t threaten me with a good time would’ve fallen from her lips had his mother not been seated next to her. And though she enjoyed Michael’s corrections, she did prefer to follow his short-list of rules as they let their dynamic bleed into everyday life. Most of them were silly, easy to follow, and she adored the glow of being his good girl.

She rolled her eyes, keeping her bratty grin to a minimum as she slid out from his light grasp to put some distance between them. She did not know what was wrong, why her body seemed out of control when he was near. She always yearned for Michael but lately? She was salivating for him. So she forced herself to walk over to the sink to rinse and put her dishes in the dishwasher. 

“You bought it, Michael. Don’t act like I’m doing something outlandish by checking with you first.” 

“I bought it n signed it over to you the day I gave it to you, baby. It's your car, totally paid off, in your name. You can enjoy it without permission. Do whatever you want wit it.” 

“Oh so I can let it roll off a cliff if I want??” 

Raven did not try to hide her sarcasm as she and Michael had the same debate for the tenth time. She knew she should just let it go and do as instructed: enjoy it. But every time she sat in it, she just felt reminded of how she could not have afforded this on her own. And something about that sat like a stone in her stomach. It was more comfortable to not acknowledge it was hers, to not allow herself to get too comfortable in it. 

Michael grinned as he followed Raven around the kitchen island with ease, foiling her plan as if he could read her mind before she even formulated the idea.

“I mean… that’d be hella wasteful. But I’d just get you a new one… after the legal team cause that sounds like hella charges n damages. You’re too soft for prison, sweet girl. Best bet would be just to drive it round the city? You know, try to keep it on the road.” 

Raven gave him an amused eye roll, which she then shared with his mom who could not stifle a laugh at her son’s jokes. 

“I’m serious, babe.”  

“Were you seriously thinkin’ about drivin’ it off a cliff, baby? Nah for real, Rae. I just mean… ain’t nothin’ wrong with just jumpin in it when you feel like it. Goin’ for a drive, goin’ wherever you want. I love havin’ you here but I know it’s far out. I got it cause you needed it and I don’t want you feelin’ trapped way out here or like you’re at the whims of my shit. So you can stop askin’ to use somethin’ that’s yours. In fact, I insist you stop.” 

He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, the message clear. His statement had a period on it and he was done discussing it.

That should’ve been enough, to steal the doubts and concerns from her brain matter but she couldn’t uproot them. Couldn’t silence that persistent murmur against her soul that cautioned against letting him do too much, come too close. That warned against getting comfortable relying on him. Or relying on anyone. 

Raven let herself fall into his tight embrace for a too short-lived second as wisps of his cologne hit her nose. She had to fight the instinct to shove him away. This was typically her favorite of his colognes, but today, the citrus notes swirling about felt like a felony against her senses. 

She discreetly turned her nose away from him, hoping a few deep breaths would calm the sudden storm of nausea hitting her stomach. 

She prayed he would not notice. The last thing she needed was to get sick again when their trip was so close. When she foolishly promised she’d go to the doctor if it happened again.

She was grateful for the chime of his phone tearing his attention away and hopefully getting him out of smelling distance. 

“Aight. Allen outside. Love you both. Call if you need anythin’, babe. Have fun, mama.” He bestowed a parting hug and kiss, much to Raven’s chagrin, before heading to the front door. 

Her “goodbye” was lackluster in comparison as her body devolved into active rebellion at his last kiss. She held it back long enough to hear the door close but too long for any other option than throwing up into the sink. 

“Oh dear!” Michael’s mother gasped, racing over to Raven as she hinged over their giant farm-style sink. 

She hushed Raven’s garbled apologies, providing a soothing touch only a mother could against Raven’s back until she finished. She could tell Michael inherited so much of his nurturing spirit from his mother.

“It’s alright, just take your time.” 

“I’m so sorry, this i-is so disgusting. I just wouldn’t have made it… to the bathroom.” Raven mumbled a soft thank you as his mother handed her a wet paper towel to wipe her face. “Thanks. Don’t know where that came from.”

“Oh of course, dear. Have you been feeling alright?” 

Raven waved her hand as she leaned against the sink for a moment to catch her breath. However, she could feel it. How haggard she felt just standing there, like the slightest thing could tip her over. 

“Oh you know, I had that stomach bug a couple weeks back and it's been off ever since. But Michael will drag me to the doctor when he hears about this. He’s already so worried but… I’m sure it’s nothing. And I don’t want him to feel like he has to cancel our trip next week.” Raven’s body caved a bit as she stared at the floor. “He seems so excited and I’m just… always burdening him with something, it feels like.” 

She bit her lip before sniffling and straightening her posture, realizing she had not meant to say that out loud. 

“Sorry, sorry. I shouldn’t bother you with that sort of stuff.” 

“You’re not a bother to anyone in this house, Raven. If you ever wanna talk, even about Michael, my door’s always open. And I hope you know you’re not and never have been a burden to that boy. He loves you, loves taking care of you. But if you don’t want him to worry too much, I’d just pick up a pregnancy test. You should confirm with a doctor, of course, but it’ll give you and Bakari some peace of mind in the meantime. Sounding too much like me in the first trimester with those kids. With Bakari, I had to ban Mike Sr from wearin’ cologne, stuff stunk so bad, made me so sick for months.”

She offered the words so casually, she could have been reading the weather report for the week or sharing what she planned to eat for dinner. But her words? “Pregnancy test” was water dosed on the laptop of Raven’s brain and it shortcircuited. A tree effectively sprouted in her path, knocking every conscious thought out and replacing it with one, dizzying and terrifying one: Am I pregnant? 

No. No, there’s no way. 

She’s just messing with you.

“Wait, wait, wait. You think I’m… No, no. Ms. Donna…” Raven’s laugh was void of its signature youthful glee. Nervous, hesitant and shortened, the sort of laugh when your body simply did not know what else to do. “That’s… not possible.” 

“I’m certainly a bit more old fashioned than you kids these days, dear, but I’m not a fool, blind, or deaf since my son thinks he can whisper.” 

Raven blushed as the woman let her know their attempts at discretion could use a bit of refinement. 

“So I imagine it’s very possible. Gettin’ sick all the time. You put syrup on your casserole this mornin, which I’ve never seen you do. I've noticed you’ve been more tired lately. Just woman to woman, it might be worth takin’ the test. First thing a doctor’s going to rule out too anyway so might as well.”

Fuck. 

“You know,” she added as she chuckled and patted Raven’s hand . “That would explain the dream I had on Sunday. I do believe there’s some truth to ‘you dream of fish when somebody’s pregnant.’” 

Raven felt as if her reality had exploded, leaving her standing in the middle of miles of wreckage. She could not be pregnant. She was just starting to stitch her life back together, figure out a new path forward. She and Michael discussed the future but he knew she wanted time. And they had been enjoying it, blissfully dating and having fun. For the first time. 

She was not ready. They were not ready.

The corner of her eyes stung, her brain trying to parse through all the emotions and fears that one statement brought to the surface. What would he think? Would he want this? 

Of course not! Who would? Here you are… about to ruin his life… again. 

A tear escaped before Raven could even stop them, though she tried to quickly whisk them away. 

“Oh dear, I didn’t mean to frighten you… I’m sure it’s nothing,” she started to say, realizing that the second person in the conversation had gone utterly silent and she found Raven’s eyes filled with every emotion but joy. 

But Raven knew she could not fall apart here, not in front of her. Because then her first call would be to her well-intentioned but meddling son. And she could not talk to him about this. Not yet. 

So she forced a soft smile back on her face. 

“Oh, no, no. I’m sorry. You didn’t. That’s just not at all what I thought you were gonna say. Or even a thought on my mind. You just… Caught me off guard,” she reasoned halfheartedly with a smile. “Y-You’re right though. If I’m not feeling better in the next couple of days, I’ll take a test. Good to rule it out.” 

“You know I can stay if you’d like some company until you’re feeling better?”

“Oh no, no. please. Don’t change your plans for me. It comes and goes, I’ll be just fine.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Of course. Please. Go have fun. I’m alright.”  

Another halfhearted goodbye as she left to go get ready, leaving Raven paralyzed in the kitchen. She braced herself against the marble counter, her heart pounding loudly in her ears as the words tumbled around. Her breaths were shaky, failed attempts to release just a fraction of the pressure building inside her. 

But nothing worked. She just spiraled and spiraled as she cleaned and retreated to Michael’s room. But this was no longer the sanctuary it used to be. She felt his presence everywhere, the man she needed and terrified her the most in this moment. 

“You’ll always choose me regardless.”

The refrain came back to mind, she reached out for it before something snatched her back. 

This is not what he meant. 

And the one person who could provide calm and support was the one person she could not call with this, not until she knew for certain. Not until she could determine what her life would look like. Everything else Michael gave her, she could leave behind should he change his mind about her or disappoint her. But she couldn’t do that with a mini future thespian attached to her hip, binding their lives forever.

This felt far more daunting than a potential illness she thought she was dodging. This would change everything. Her entire life. 

And you can barely take care of yourself. What happens when he leaves? When he’s tired of being burdened by you? 

Raven squeezed her eyes closed, trying to employ the techniques her therapist recommended when the dark thoughts were louder than the ones she knew were real. But even as she tried to focus on what she knew to be true, Michael’s promises and his demonstrated actions, that voice just screamed until she could not take it any longer. 

She grabbed her phone, wallet, and car keys and jumped into her car with only one thought. 

I’ve gotta get outta here.

Tag List: @apenasumlug4r @prettyisasprettydoes1306 @lizbehave @Ib-xci @theereinawrites @cocobean1709 @vibrantlymellowknight @kindofaintrovert @mejustme06

***

A/N: Ummm wow okay that was a lot hahaha and I hope you enjoyed it!! I really struggled this year with writer's block and feeling like I couldn't finish this story so while this honestly isn't perfect lol I am so excited to finish this because I love these two and I know yall do too!

2025 was a tough year and that really disconnected me from writing but I'm so excited to be back! And hoping to dive into some one shots I had planned for these two and a sinners readers series I've started. Super excited about those and to just reconnect with writing.

So the next update is like 3/4 of the way done so it will not take a year hahaha promise! Thanks for reading!!

[lbjgirl2323]

His film wives 🤭🤭 and friends.

[lbjgirl2323]

When Wunmi has her baby, I just know that MBJ is going to send flowers or a gift. 🤣 🤣 🤣

[puffmamaa]

With the way he kissed that belly, he about to send the whole baby registry😭

[myheartsaysyes]

@puffmamaa Why was I thinking about this the other day? You know he bought every single item on that registry! 🤭

[nyifly22]

He’s probably the goddaddy 😂

[aretasreads]

— wunmi mosaku ☀️

[nyifly22]

A mf’n face 😍😍

[nika324]

💙Just Me For You💙

Part 1

Description: 27 year old NICU Nurse Annie isn’t thrilled to be back home in New Orleans. With the exception of her Aunt Lottie, she thought she left the city behind her and traded it for beeping monitors and stressed out parents. But when Aunt Lottie is diagnosed with Colon Cancer, Annie temporarily steps in and runs the family salon. And every time she turns her head, He’s there.

Story Notes: This will be maybe four parts or maybe five. Part 1 is a little shorter and starts off slow and that is intentional.

Inspo: This idea came to based on real life. In my city, there is a husband who owns a barbershop and a wife who owns a salon a few blocks from each other and I think it’s so cute. Even though the salon fawked up my eyebrows that one time but anywayyyy. 💀 To note, Smoke and Annie are not stylists and barbers though.

Warnings: Mentions of stillborn, mentions od DV, mentions of cancer, mentions of grief, Smoke will be an asshole later, slight slowburn but not too slow bc I don’t have time. 😭

A/N: I hope you enjoy. 💛 Happy almost 1 year anniversary, Sinners. ❤️‍🔥

⚜️

📍Uptown. 📍

The humming sounds of the nearby passing vehicles rang throughout the near empty salon. With the exception of Annie’s all black mid sized parked Lexus SUV, it’d be easy for a passerby to assume the quaint baby blue colored building was unoccupied. Only one light was on, no one outside, and the door was shut. But it wasn’t empty.

Ms. Carlotta’s southern drawl came through the speakers of the iPhone and carried through each room as Annie did a walkthrough.

The salon was older than her but it didn’t reflect that. Her grandma wouldn’t have allowed it, so neither would her Aunt Carlotta. Ann’s was a salon pioneered and built by Annie’s grandmother, the late Annette. Since the early 80’s, the building sat on the corner of Tchoupitoulas Street.

During the mid 70s, Anette (don’t you call her no Ms. Anette) needed an outlet. With an abusive alcoholic husband taking over their 700sqft shotgun home in small town Lafayette, an escape plan was necessary. She started small on her porch. Two clients a day. Press and curls. Relaxers. Twists. Simple washes under the outside hose or at her kitchen sink.

For three years, she saved almost every nickel but remembering to put some towards the empty household. In the dingy attic of her home. In a hole on the side of the home that she hoped possums and rats left alone. Some of it even stored at her mother’s grave. Eddie was too drunk to care or notice. Too busy chasing other skirts.

But Annette had a plan.

So one Tuesday night while the city partied away for Mardi Gras, Anette and her four girls made it out and headed East two hours away East to New Orleans. Within five years, the ground was broken to build the family’s legacy.

Now, Annie was standing in her grandmother’s wildest dream. Reluctantly albeit.

Shortly after completing college and a rigorous pediatric nursing program, she set her sights on Houston, Texas. Her days were filled with beeping monitors, stressed parents, and society’s most vulnerable dependent on her. Aunt Carlotta made her vow that they’d stick to a schedule. One weekly phone call that she didn’t play about it.

One week when Annie had faced another week of being overworked, she opted out of the weekly check in. Refusing to take no for an answer, Carlotta called Houston Memorial’s NICU Floor, demanding that Crystal, Annie’s coworker whom picked up the phone- give a message to Annie that she better ensure to “TimeFace her auntie Lottie or she will get on the next thing to Texas.” Annie hadn’t missed her calls since. She loved her aunt tremendously but New Orleans wasn’t home anymore. And every time she looked at her aunt, she saw her mother and grandmother who were now ancestors. The pain was immeasurable some days. Her life in Houston provided a much needed breath of fresh air.

Every week, the aunt and niece chatted.

Annie dodging questions about her personal life and Carlotta asking when she would come home.

This was their routine. It was expected and familiar. During most video calls, the older woman would be at the salon-talking shit with the ladies. Her singular gold tooth shining on the phone screen, cigarette hanging from her two toned colored lips. Clients, employees, priests- Carlotta let any and everyone have it. One afternoon, Carlotta called Annie. A normal call. The call came from Carlotta’s home phone to Annie’s cellphone.

No Facetime, no laughs, no shit talking.

She asked Annie how was her week and what was she going to eat for supper. That was it. Strange.

Right before the end of the call, the woman got even quieter.

She cleared her throat and wet her lips. “Ann… I’m sick.” She exhaled and continued. “Colon cancer. The doctor sayin’ they caught it early enough so I ain’t stressin’. But I need you.”

The next day, Annie slowly padded out of the work restroom. Her usually doe eyes possessed a tinge of red. Today had been heavier than normal. A mere forty five minutes ago, she’d been packing another infant memory box.

The third one in two weeks.

It was a little girl this time that her parents named Dream. Born at only twenty five weeks and three days, she was severely underdeveloped. Annie and her team fought like hell for weeks in hope that she’d make it out of their NICU but she didn’t. The infant’s parents too heartbroken to see her little tired body. So it was Annie who bathed her the final time, gathered some of her little items for keepsakes, and brought her down to the cold morgue. A couple of gentle knocks disturbed the man’s paperwork processing. Mr. Miller was one of Annie’s bosses. A white gay man in his late 40s who walked a fine line of friend versus professional. His goal since day one had been an Open Door Policy, so he welcomed Annie without a second thought.

⚜️

With her time off approved, she exited the off ramp and joined the backed up Houston traffic.

The engine of her humming as the lanes moved along slowly. “That ain’t the point, D. I gotta go back there and live all them memories again.”

On the other side of the car speaker and on the other side of town at a veterinary clinic, sat her best friend Dionne. The two women met at an apothecary shop a few months after Annie moved to Texas and have been joined at the hip since then.

“Family is family, Ann. She need you.” The woman reasoned. “And maybe you can find me one of them ain’t shit studs back there in the bayou.” Annie smiled at that. The door of her apartment sighed as she turned the key. Scents of vanilla and jasmine from last night’s candles all following her to the small kitchen. Before she could sit down, her cellphone vibrated from her purse.

“What time you gettin’ here tomorrow?” Annie could tell from the background noise that her aunt was washing dishes.

She squat down to remover her shoes. “About three. Then I’ma check in to my hotel.”

Lottie was offended. “Hotel?! You done lost ya mind, girl. You ain’t wasting no money on no hotel when you got a room here.”

“It ain’t a big deal.” She groaned.

The sound of an incoming message came through.

“Auntie, Ima call you back. Love you.”

Keith (KJ): I’m hearin’ you moving from other people and not you.

Annie read at 6:52pm.

Keith (KJ): ?

Annie: I am and you hearin’ it now.

Keith (KJ): I’m omw.

Annie: I don’t have time for this right now.

KJ. Annie’s on again and off again friend for the last year. He came through when she called, gave her what she wanted, and didn’t pressure her for nothing more. He moved when she said so. But it was getting old. She switched her phone to Do Not Disturb and headed to the bathroom for a shower.

⚜️

“Yes, I know that, Aunt Lottie.” She resigned. The call duration now read 57 minutes. 57 minutes of Aunt Lottie rambling on and on from the recliner in her home.

“Some of that Cecred and Design Essentials…”

“Mm-hmm.” Annie hummed as she dipped the edge brush in the newly opened Ecostyler gel and brought it to her baby hairs.

“… Combs and brushes…You listenin’ to me, lil girl?” She stopped mid sentence.

Annie ravaged through additional products, throwing a new leave in conditioner into her handbag. “Mm-hmm. But I don’t need you worryin’ ‘bout none of this. I got it. You gotta focus on you.”

The elderly woman refusing to go down without a fight. Chemotherapy be damned. “I know you a doctor but I’m older than you, yeah. I know what I’m doin’.”

“I’m a nurse, Aunt Lottie.” Annie corrected.

The older woman grumbled. “Same shit.”

Changing the subject, Lottie gave another order. “My delivery boy gon’ be there around 3 or 4. You might need you some help. Gon’ flag down one of them men from the barbershop ‘cross the street.”

Annie tried to cut in “I don’t need-“

“You not carryin’ all that by yaself. Now go ‘cross the street and tell them bring the boxes inside. They do it all the time fa’ me. One of them twins gon’ help ya out. I don’t know which one, na. The one with the dimple talk fast and might steal from ya pocketbook but he mean well.” She warned with a small laugh and shake of her head.

Less than thirty steps away sat In The Kut Barbershop. A barbershop ran by none other than Thaddeus Senegal, better known as T.J.

On paper and to the New Orleans Police Department, he was a felon. To Aunt Lottie, he was the “nice boy ‘cross the street wit’ some money.” She knew him and his family very well. Eleven months ago, he strolled into the busy salon on a Saturday morning with three dozen red roses in hand for Lottie.

His sable skin had a perfect sheen under the warm lights while the diamonds on his bottom grill danced as he greeted all of the women. He pulled Lottie aside to ask for her blessing to began construction across the street, promising to do right for their shared neighborhood.

Ms.Barbra Jean responding before Lottie could. “Do whateva’ ya want, baby.” She winked as she angled her body back underneath the hair dryer.

Right at 3pm just as Lottie said, the UPS driver backed into the back of the salon. A young man no older than twenty five began stacking and lining boxes up against the wall near the back door entrance. His head bobbing along to whatever music he’d been playing through his air pods. He was halfway through the task when Annie swung the door open and forced the door stopper under it. She waited a beat before saying anything. “Hello, would you like somethin’ to drink?” The young man said nothing.

The air changed. She felt it first before she saw them. Him.The air changed. She felt it first before she saw them. Him.

She’d been too occupied with getting the young man’s attention to notice the pair approaching. A whistle cut through the still dense air demanding attention.

A confused Annie and a surprised delivery driver looked around in search of the disturbance. The driver took two small steps to the left of him as he eyed the woman up and down and removed his air pods. She wasn’t Lottie.

Only a few feet away, the two men stood as they surveilled the surroundings. The duo watched Annie and the driver as if they were the ones that didn’t belong there.

The two men were identical, yes, but their contrasts couldn’t be any more stark.

Where one was relaxed with a slight grin and a blunt in hand, the other stood with his feet slightly apart and his fingers interlaced. Shoulders broad and tense. Refusing to break eye contact with her.

Though she only knew the men for a few minutes, she wasn’t surprised that it was Stack who broke the silence first.

He switched his attention to the younger man who was still standing in one place. The three men all knew of each other but they didn’t know Annie…yet.

“Aye, she was talkin’ to ya, Jay.” A small nod in his direction.

The FedEx driver immediately apologized. “I’m sorry. I ain’t hear you at all, Miss.”

Annie shrugged it off. “We good.”

The younger twin had a knowing look on his face as he cocked his head to one side. “Them eyes. You Lottie’s niece ain’t ya?”

Elijah said nothing as his eyes looked between the two. Today had been long for the woman and she wasn’t interested in answering questions from one of them while the other one unapologetically stared holes into her.

“I’m somethin’ like that.” Was all she had.

The unsuspecting younger man decided it was his turn for an introduction. He extended his arm for a small handshake.

“And I’m Jay, I been on this route for three years. Your auntie somethin’ else.”

“That she is.” Annie reciprocated the greeting.

Only Elias noticed the slight twitch in Elijah’s right hand as he looked on, filing it for later.

“We gon’ take these in for ya.” Stack maneuvered towards the rows of brown stacked boxes after putting his blunt in his back pocket.

Wordlessly, Smoke appeared at his twin’s side to start working on the boxes furtherest from the back door of the shop.

The woman sighed. “That ain’t necessary. I can do it myself.” She grabbed two overstuffed boxes and headed towards the door.

Cecred hair products threatening to spill over from the top.

Just as quickly as she grabbed the large sized boxes, they disappeared from her grasp. She didn’t need to fully turn her head to know whose eyes would be on her. When their eyes met, Elijah was already peering at her with a subtle yet almost daring look.

Stack grinned “We ain’t say you ain’t got it. We do this every week for your auntie. That ain’t gonna change.”

Annie’s brow furrowed. “Hm. This how you two normally greet new people?” She questioned while walking back into the salon, her long braids switching with every step.

Smoke decided now was his time to speak. He hadn’t been a man of many words so anytime he did speak, it was going to add substance to the conversation and people listened. At least most of them did.

“Only when they don’t listen.” He said with finality.

⚜️⚜️⚜️

Tags: @lizbehave @brownskincheyenne @bananajoeclone @blackpinup22 and also that one Anon who just clocked me. 💀

A/N: If you made it this far, thank youuu. 🥹

How we feeling?! Talk to me!

[stilldirtyyprettythings]

May your bank account never be negative ✨

[stilldirtyyprettythings]

May your bank account never be negative ✨

[biologicalstepfather]

If you know who Emmett Till is please reblog.

I’m trying to prove a point to my dad.

[aretasreads]

ok this just became my fav post-oscars pic

[nahimjustfeelingit-writes]

😍😍😍

[nyifly22]

With Marvin Gaye playing, iktr!!!

[rawrdoesnotexist]

Now that the Oscars are over, Michael B. Jordan fanfic writers got to get to work!! C’mon people! I need those Oscar night fanfics!!

[starcrossedxwriter]

Wicked Fantasies Part 11.2 (MBJ x Black OC)

A/N: Long awaited and well over due. This is basically chapter 12 but it really connects to 11.1. Nothing to say except enjoy!

“Michael, stop messing with the fuckin’ cuff links!” Alex called over to him from her spot on the couch. “I thought you weren’t nervous??” 

Michael cut his eyes toward his agent before forcing his fingers away from the gold cufflinks near his wrist. That had been his original claim when he arrived at his suite to get ready, proudly boosting that he did not feel nervous at all. And some part of him had believed that was true. But as makeup ended and he got dressed, the nerves started to settle in. Tonight was no longer some distant potential achievement. It was here and now. And his shoulders were starting to feel the weight of that pressure. He tried his best to remain excited and upbeat but there were some ticks he simply couldn’t hide. 

“Ha ha. I’m just… you know, already ready for it to be over. Gotta sit through 100 fuckin’ awards before they get to mine. Just gonna be a long night.” 

“Whatever you say,” she muttered, her face scrunching up at her phone for a minute. 

“Somethin’ wrong?” his antenna going up immediately, anxiety that something had already gone wrong seeping into his confident facade. “Fuck… You think we should’ve gone with the other suit, don’t you??” 

“Nigga… they’re both black tuxes, calm down. No one’s ever looked at you to be the pillar of fashion. You look great, that’s all that matters. Just taking care of some last minute details, boring shit you wouldn’t be interested in.” 

Michael knew not to press any farther as she immediately changed the subject, standing up and starting to walk over to him. He watched as she studied the time on her phone screen for a moment as his stylist’s assistant slid on the tailored jacket for his suite.

“Can someone check on his mom? Jason went to check out the space and it’s ready for photos. We gotta start in 10 though if we want to make it to the carpet.” 

“I’ll go.” 

He was thankful his mom agreed to accompany him on such a momentous occasion, she was the only date he could fathom taking as the woman he wanted was unavailable. 

Raven. 

Some fantasy that she would call or text him good luck drove him to check his phone every 20 minutes or so, praying for anything that signaled that she thought of him as he did her. She tortured his every waking thought, even after agreeing to give her the space she desperately wanted and needed. But his soul did not want space, his soul wanted their better half, the person who made all of this worth something. 

He shook his head for a moment and forced her to the back of his brain, where he knew she would only stay for a short while. No more than 10 minutes would go by before someone or something reminded him of her. But when he thought of her too long, the sparse stitches holding those wounds together tore open and blood flowed earnestly from them. And such emotional agony would not stand on the biggest night of his career. So he forced a smile onto his face and thoughts of a love he would likely never have again behind the barriers around his heart and knocked on the door to his mother’s room. 

However, he was not prepared to find her still clad in the lounging set Raven and he had bought her for Christmas, completely unprepared to attend the biggest night in Hollywood. 

“Ma, what’s wrong? We gotta leave soon. Why aren’t you dressed?” 

“Well I didn’t want to worry you while you were getting ready but I’m just not feeling well. I don’t think I can make it all evening. I’m sorry, baby.” 

Michael’s face fell ever so slightly at the disappointment, though he tried his hardest to hide it. It was not his mother’s fault that she was not feeling well and even he knew the rest of the day would be tiresome and exhausting for even those in good spirits. So he did not want her trying to suffer through on his account. However, he would not pretend that it did not sting, to know that he would not have anyone there to support him, hold his hand. That he would spend tonight… completely alone. 

Her renewed apologies made him fix his face immediately, knowing that she likely already felt badly for canceling on him. He had no interest in making her feel any worse. 

“I really am sorry, baby. But I wasn’t the date you wanted to take anyway,” she chuckled, her eyes filled with sympathy. 

Those makeshift barriers dissolved into nothing stronger than paper at her words. And as flimsy as they originally were, they were all he had to hold onto to get through tonight. 

“Don’t apologize, ma. Really no big deal at all. You should rest. And you know you’re always my favorite date. Besides, your love is the reason I’m here. You’ll always be my #1,” he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. When her eyes, unsurprisingly, filled with tears, Michael chuckled a bit. “Don’t cry on me. Alex will kill me for messin’ up this makeup.”  

She took a tissue and whisked away the pools of tears in her eyes before adjusting his bowtie.

“You know how proud I am of you? How lucky I am to be your mom? I thank God for you, your sister, and your brother every day. And all I’ve ever wanted for each of you is to live out your dreams and be happy. No matter what you do or who you’re with. Just that. Tonight you’re seeing God’s manifestation of your dreams and win or lose, I couldn’t be prouder of you. But even I know, only one person could make you truly happy tonight. That facade might fool the world but not me. I saw how happy she made you, Bakari. How she turned my scared little boy into a brave and vulnerable man without even trying. I may have gotten you here but her love and adoration and the love you have for her will keep you here. Will help you reach dreams I couldn’t even comprehend for you. And that’s a woman I’ll happily step into the #2 spot for any day.”

“Thanks ma… but I don’t think she wants that spot anymore… wants me anymore. Hell, I don’t even know where she is in the world.” The resigned smile on his face and the humorless laugh could not hide the depths of his sadness as he recalled the message he received from David letting him know that Raven boarded a flight to only God knows where. He had failed and even tonight could not take his mind off the 101 ways he failed the love of his life. “I screwed up. Gotta accept the consequences. I wanna be the man you raised and the man she thought she fell in love with. Even if I don’t get to be that for her.” 

“Give it time, Bakari. You know what I always reminded you three. Everything meant for you will come to you or find its way back to you. God never denies what he ordained as yours, sweetheart. Something to remember for more than one reason tonight.”

There was a certain mischievous glint in her eyes that did not match the typical motherly tone in her voice. “More than one reason” stuck out in his brain. 

What the fuck does that even mean? 

“What do you me-?” he started to ask when his mother cut him off. 

“Oh gosh, you know I didn’t even notice the time? You should go, dear. Don’t wanna get in trouble with that Alex, do we?” 

Realizing that it was almost showtime forced his confusion right out of his brain as he forced himself to focus on the moment, his moment. 

“Nah we don’t. She’s terrifyin’,” he admitted. “How about you lay down and rest for a while and Allen can take you home when you feel better? Or you can enjoy the suite for the night? Totally up to you.” 

“Thank you, baby. I’ll hang out here, let the traffic clear a bit then head to your sister’s. Everyone’s watching there. You look amazing. Can’t wait to see you shine tonight ” 

“Thanks, ma. Aight, I should head down to take pictures. Love you.”  

He squeezed her hand before she turned around and closed the door of her room behind her.  

He walked back to where his team was waiting. The lack of noise and hustle and bustle in the space caught him off guard as he expected to return to the same chaotic space with his team racing around him. However, only Alex stood waiting on him. 

“Where’d everybody go?” 

“Oh I sent them all downstairs. Figured you wouldn’t mind a couple minutes of peace before the longest night of your life.”  

And that was why, of everyone on his team, Alex was one of the few that stood the test of time. She knew him, truly knew him and what he needed. 

“Thanks.” He paused as he studied her. “You good?” 

Alex had been in the wings of every major career moment in Michael’s life and she typically brought an air of assurance and confidence that put Michael at ease. She was a staple calming force that kept his own anxiety in check. However, tonight? Everything about her seemed off, distracted and anxious in a way that made his empath sensors go haywire. She seemed utterly engrossed in her own phone, which was not unlike Alex but typically she cued Michael in, if nothing else. But tonight, she offered him no insight.  

“Yea… just a big night. Want to make sure everything’s perfect,” she muttered. “Come on… Jason says they’re ready for us.” 

Michael did not need to be the smartest person in the room to immediately recognize that she was hiding something from him. He knew he would never get it out of her as she was the world’s most secure vault for secrets. And there was a part of him that did not even want to know for fear that it would scare him into skipping the night altogether. What if she already found out that he lost? If anyone in his orbit was part of some dark Hollywood back channel, Alex would be it. Or something happened to Raven and she did not want him to lose his shit right before the event. Because they both knew he would drop all of this in a heartbeat for her. Foolish? Perhaps but that was how he knew he had found true love, his soul mate. Because nothing in this life was as important as her and he would drop all of it to rush to her side if she asked. But she would never ask, because she did not consider herself worthy of sacrifices, which only served as fuel to spend everyday proving to her that she was.

Why did he even try not to think of her? Somehow, every thought was merely the first step down a path that led right to Raven’s doorstep. 

He trailed slightly behind Alex as she led him to the elevator. However, before she hit the button, she stopped. 

“Oh shoot. I need to stop by my suite. Forgot somethin. It’s just down the hall, it’ll take two minutes. Got a gift for you for your big night. A little good luck charm.” 

“Alex, you know you didn’t need to get me shit.” And he truly meant that. He was just grateful to have Alex in his corner, her presence and commitment to his career was a gift in and of itself. “And send me the bill for your suite. Would’ve just gotten it for you.”

“Nah, it’s all good. It was last minute and I only got it for convenience, really.” She used her key to open the door and held it open so Michael could walk inside. 

However, as she opened the door, her usual resting bitch face (Alex’s words, not his) turned into a bright grin, one that she clearly tried desperately to minimize but couldn’t. And while Michael had expected flowers or a gift basket or even a bottle of his favorite rum, now he wondered if the gift was something far bigger than that. What he did not expect, when he turned the corner into her suite’s sitting area, was to find Raven awkwardly fidgeting with her gown as Jason made last-minute adjustments. 

“Wha…” His words died in his throat as she turned to face him, his stride stumbling backward in shock as he drank her in. 

He could have stood there and stared at her for the rest of the night and it would not have been enough time. Several lifetimes filled with millions of minutes and seconds would hardly scratch the surface of how much time he needed to simply consume her presence, to refill the parts of his soul that had depleted without her. 

Beautiful was a gross understatement for her. She was stunning, a goddess plucked from the heavens and placed among lesser men. Michael did not think he had ever laid eyes on a more radiant human being. But it was not her stunning beauty that caused tears to spring to his eyes. It was the look of renewed hope in hers, the smallest flame reignited after it had been utterly extinguished the last time he laid eyes on her. And fuck, that could’ve ended him right then and there. To see hope and light in her again, to see the Raven he had fallen so deeply for, she was all consuming. 

She had not even said a word yet but the impact of her choice to be there, to show up for him and choose him after everything conveyed a love words would not be sufficient enough to. The silence stretched on as he studied all the things that had made him fall in love. The soft expectant smile painted on her face as she stared at him that only solidified that she was willing and ready to rebuild with him. The anxious way her eyes glanced down at her own dress and her hands fidgeted that told him she was searching for his confirmation that he still wanted her here or that she looked beautiful, that reminded him of her awkwardness and endless humility that made him fall in love with her in the first place. The way her eyes, the most expressive aspect of her, somehow told him everything he needed to know without uttering a word. 

“I-I hope this is ok?” she asked quietly as she broke the silence and expectant tension that blanketed Alex’s suite, snapping Michael out of his speechless trance. “Admittedly, I only gave Alex and Jason like 24 hours notice. So our options were kind of limited b-but they said it would compliment yours a-and likely get me on a best dressed list, which d-doesn’t really matter but could be nice? I dunno though… think I’ve had enough publicity for a lifetime,” she laughed anxiously. “But I don’t know what’s appropriate to wear to the Oscars with the 2023 Best Actor and they do. But I know this probably isn’t what you envisioned when you invited me in January. But don’t blame them. It’s definitely my fault. Lost weight so my measurements weren’t quite right and the time thing. Honestly, give them a raise… well I can’t tell you what to do with your money. But you should…” she glanced over Michael’s shoulder at Alex who was staring at her with a look that simply said, ‘speed the reunion up, sis.’ So Raven cut herself off, her last rambling words falling off. “Consider it…” 

“You… you came?” 

“I heard you needed a date?” 

Michael rarely experienced true speechlessness, the right words rarely eluded him. He usually always knew what to say. His brain was on the verge of explosion with all the things he desperately wanted to say, his deepest proclamations of regret and love sat on his tongue but he just did not know where to start, could not find the place to start.

Meanwhile, Raven had an entire soliloquy of how she was ready to forgive and move forward because she loved him planned out in her mind. But every painstakingly chosen word evaporated from her mind as she looked at him, as she stared at the man her soul had come to recognize as her safest place to be. The one place that did not demand she provide her most perfect words or anything from her at all. It simply demanded, insisted, that she just be.

And now, the words that sprung to her mind were not perfect at all. They were raw, they were broken… they were her vulnerabilities, her fear, her pain, and they were her hope. Her wildest fantasies and her dreams. And she was no longer afraid to express them loudly here. Because he was the one place where she could. 

“You remember when I woke up in the hospital and the first thing I said to you was apologizing for not being the girl you wanted? For not being good enough? A-and you told me not to compare myself to h-her… or anyone else. B-”

“Because you’re one of a kind,” Michael finished simply.

“That was one of the nicest things a man… anyone had said to me in so long,” she admitted, her head bowing slightly. “And I didn’t believe it. I wanted to be loved by you so badly, Michael. B-But I couldn’t believe a man like you would ever think I was enough because I wasn’t enough for anyone. I wasn’t right for anyone. A-And I had internalized this narrative that I didn’t deserve love o-or to be happy. That I just deserved some second-rate, half life filled with disregard and pain because other people told me so. A-And when we s-started dating, I finally started to believe that all that hope had been worth something? That maybe I deserved something… better? A-And w-when I saw her, my heart immediately felt like… you were finally admitting it. I wasn’t enough for you either.”

Every punch and injury he sustained playing Adonis Creed paled in comparison to that. He did not know if it was possible to feel worse about what he had done.

“Rae… baby, you gotta know that-“ 

She held up her hand to stop him, Michael immediately falling silent. 

“I know… at the time though? It felt like God confirming everything everyone w-who knew me ever said, t-the fuel for that voice in my head that told me I would never b-be enough, w-was right. And all the ways you showed me I was enough, all the ways you showed up for me… didn’t seem real anymore. And that broke me. So I left, gave you the out I thought everyone who knew me wanted. T-this nuisance out of their lives. But you… you didn’t leave.”

Michael could hear the pure perplexity in her voice, as if the competing voices in her head could not square why he kept reaching out, kept showing up even as she pushed him away. 

“Because I love you.”

“Because you love me.” Raven repeated it but Michael could hear it, the recognition that his words were the truth.

“I… um. I don’t believe I deserve you,” Raven said simply. “But for the first time, I know that I want more than whatever life in the shadows I thought I had to have. I know that I don’t want to push away love a-and happiness anymore. A-and I don’t want to push you away anymore. B-Because you are love, safety, comfort… happiness. I want to believe I deserve better? I want… to believe I deserve you. Because when I’m with you…” 

Raven let out a shaky exhale that felt like her body starting to expel all those tormenting thoughts she internalized as she finally admitted out loud that this love was everything she always wanted. 

“When I’m with you, all I feel is joy. A joy so pure that only something hand crafted by God himself could feel so good. You’re every fantasy I dreamed of but never thought I could have. Since the moment I fell off that damn table like a clumsy fucking idiot, you’ve been my safest place, you’ve been home, and you’ve been one of the few people in my life who’ve loved me unapologetically and loudly.” 

She finally closed the space between them, putting herself within arm’s length of him. 

“And I owe you an apology for… letting my exhaustion and pent up pain blind me to all the ways you’ve loved me loudly since the day we met. Regardless of how tired a-and exhausted I am from falling and crashing into the rocks, you were always worth climbing back up that mountain. You were always worth a second chance. And I should’ve recognized that far earlier.”

A pressure valve Michael did not even know had formed in his body released at her words. It felt like being able to take a deep breath again.

“So I’m here and I’m still hurt a-and exhausted but I’m ready to do something different, ready to run toward the cliff and take the leap and fall again. And I want to do that with you… If I’m not too late?” 

Michael did not even command his legs to move as her confirmation hit his ears. Before either of them could utter another word, she was in his arms. A sweet giggle erupted as he pulled her unexpectedly toward him and crashed his lips against hers. And the peace that brought was unparalleled. 

Raven could have melted against him, her soul at ease for the first time in too long as he held her tightly. 

The rest of their small audience melted away as their hearts and souls sought to reclaim their other half, their kiss spelling out every ache and pain their brief separation caused. His lips felt so familiar, so much like home, that it almost hurt. Every second in his arms felt as if it mended the fissures of Raven’s heart one by one, stitching her back together intentionally and with such care that it made her want to sob. 

Her own foolishness baffled her. How could she have denied herself this? This ethereal, otherworldly type of love. She would never find something comparable with another living soul. Because this insanely perfect man in front of her was it for her. She had never had a real family but in his arms, she could see one and it was everything she had ever dreamed for herself. The emotions of finally accepting, even in objective disbelief, his love for her hit her in waves that gently crashed over her one by one. But she was not overwhelmed like before, drowning beneath them as she fought for air. 

This was serenity, gentle waves blanketing her in warmth and care. Such care that it was painful to pull away to catch her own breath. 

Was breathing really a necessity right now?? She demanded of herself as his touch set off heat and flames of desire as he touched her. Weeks and weeks of deprivation meant she needed this more than she could describe, needed the physical representation of his love. His touch, his kiss, his devotion to her needs.  

She did not even look away from him but her next words were for the pair awkwardly lingering in the room, long forgotten.  

“We need 10 minutes.” 

Alex groaned, breaking the sexual tension in the room with her annoyance, though she acquiesced far faster than Raven expected. Though she suspected his longtime agent could see a losing battle from a mile away. 

“Fine but you really only get 10 minutes. Fuckin’ Oscars not a goddamn industry party. Can’t just roll in whenever we feel like it. And I swear to God… if you fuck on my bed or fuck up your outfits and make up, I’ll spend the rest of my life breaking you two up again.” 

And with that, she grabbed Jason by his sleeve and marched out of the suite, leaving the two of them alone. Raven did not even wait for the click of the door to launch herself back into his arms, her fingers working faster than her mind could direct to undress him. 

If anyone could see them, she imagined their movements were feral, so frenzied with their carnal instincts that it looked purely chaotic. Raven’s dress was in a crumble at her feet, his suit jacket was somewhere Raven could not even see. Her fingers rushed to undo the buttons of his shirt before abandoning the task for his pants. 

“Fuck, why are there so many buttons??” She came up for air long enough to moan in frustration as Alex’s warning rang out in her head. 

Only ten minutes. How was that enough time? That was not even a fraction of the time she required to do all the things her brain demanded she do to feel all of him and ensure he felt all of her too. 

“Fuck I missed you,” he uttered between kisses as he tried to take her incredibly tight but effective spanx off. 

She prayed Alex’s threat was a joke because she did not need a mirror to know her makeup would indeed need more than a light retouch. His kisses were unyielding, sloppy and utterly unrestrained. Their need for each other simply fed off the others and she knew neither would be satiated in ten minutes.

We need to stop, she thought. It was the biggest night of his career. She should stop so he could focus on that, right? 

But she couldn’t, didn’t want to. 

“I need you,” she whimpered, her desire to be filled far louder than the time clock in her head. 

And her voice was so needy that Michael, whose self-control was hanging by a thread, almost gave in. 

The only thing that gave him the strength to stop them before neither of them would be able to stop was the knowledge that she deserved more than a 10-minute quickie. She deserved to be devoured with every ounce of his being devoted to and focused on her. No interruptions, no distractions. She was a goddess to be worshiped with every stroke in her heat and that was not a process that could be rushed.  

“Baby, baby, baby,” he gently cradled her neck, forcing her to slow down and look at him. His resolve was tested at the lust in her eyes, how her entire body was suddenly flushed with heat. “Fuck…” the words were agony to push out but necessary. “I want you so bad. But not like this.” 

Raven, still a work in progress, could not stop the immediate intrusive thought that he did not want her, that she had misread everything. Michael could see it, how her eyes flashed with that fear and insecurity. He would never not want her, he would happily remind her of that every day if necessary. But he knew himself too well. Once he found himself trapped inside her, he would not be able to stop himself. And he wanted to take his time. 

“It’s not you. It’s never you,” he brushed her hair behind her ear. “I just… I want more for this than a 10-minute quickie in a hotel room that isn’t even ours. You deserve more.” 

Her heart swelled at his words, realizing that he was not even thinking about the clock. He was merely thinking about her. That forced her to calm down a bit, her lust still red hot and flowing but the logical part of her brain was taking control again. 

The slight pout on her face made him chuckle and pull her in for another kiss. It was deeper and more sensual, a quiet plea to trust that he would always give her what she needed. Even if not in the exact timing her body desired it. 

“Every moment with you counts and I’m not lettin’ anymore pass that I don’t treat you like you deserve. Trust me, I’ll give you what you need, baby girl. It’ll be worth the wait.” 

Raven knew he was right. Despite the persistent ache in her core, she knew she could wait for what he planned. It would be far better than a rushed reunion on a couch anyway.

“I trust you. Just make sure your team knows to clear your very packed schedule for the next couple days,” she teased as she stole one last kiss before she tried to put some distance between them. Her body still wanted him desperately and while she trusted him, she was not sure she trusted herself. 

But Michael merely pulled her back in and held onto her tighter. 

“Oh the world ain’t gon’ see me or you for more than a couple days. I’m all yours.” He winked at her before helping her get her dress back on and his own suit back on. Once he opened the door to let Alex back in, both of them looked exactly as the two had left them, not a hair out of place. Save Raven’s lipstick, which was completely gone. 

“Damn… three minutes? Knew you couldn’t be worth the hype,” Alex immediately said as she breezed back into the suite, utterly unbothered by the idea that the two might have fucked just moments prior. 

“You always got jokes.” 

Alex immediately fired off last-minute directions to the makeup team to fix Raven’s before they prepared for photos and to leave.  Though Raven had endured the tedious process of getting ready for awards and premieres  before, today was the most hectic yet. But she was not panicked because she stuck close to Michael, who was the picture of ease and calm. He was the eye of this hurricane, the small world that was him purely at ease even when he should not be. 

“You nervous?” she asked as the photographer directed her to perch on Michael’s knee before going to switch out the lens on his camera.  

He offered her the most sincere smile, his eyes glimmering with all the love and adoration he felt toward her. 

“Nah. Why would I be? I already got the most important thing I needed today. Tonight’ll just be a cherry on top.” 

***

Raven was beginning to wonder if her return had turned Michael’s hands into magnets. He barely let her go since they walked out of Alex’s suite. She could not help but laugh when Michael only allowed the photographer two minutes of individual photos before he pulled Raven back into his arms. It was not as if she minded one bit, she had so missed this, missed his touch. It was addicting. 

“You stare at me any harder, I’m gonna combust,” she joked as they sat in the back of his limo, Raven leaning into his side as she had done so many times before. . 

“My bad, my bad. I’m just fuckin’ shocked you’re here.” He weaved his fingers among hers, bringing her hand into his lips. “You know I’m gonna spend everyday making all this shit up to you, right?” 

“I know and I also know it’s unnecessary. I won’t lie, I’m still hurt and confused by what happened. But I know we can fix it. I don’t need you to feel guilty for the rest of our relationship either.”  

“The rest of our lives,” he softly corrected with a playful shove to her shoulder that made her giggle. Fuck he missed that sound, missed her smile.

“The rest of our lives,” she repeated. “I just need you to love me. That’s it.” 

“That’s a given, baby girl.” 

She leaned over and pecked him softly on the lips before settling back in his arms. 

“So… Can I read your speech?” she asked sweetly, knowing there was a terribly crumbled piece of paper stuffed into his jacket pocket. 

“Nope.” 

Raven immediately pouted, putting on the playful sad puppy eyes that always got to him. 

“Those ain’t gon’ work today, baby. But only cause I can’t show you a speech I don’t have.” 

Raven’s eyebrows creased in confusion, immediately assuming that his lack of a prepared speech meant he did not think he would win. How could he think such a thing? 

“Michael… You know you’re gonna win. And you’ve scripted all the others. Why didn’t you write one for tonight? I can jot you something down real quick?” she immediately started to look around as if her cell-phone-sized clutch was big enough to secretly contain a pen and paper. “Allen!” She leaned toward the front. “Do you have any paper? Spare receipt?” 

“Baby, BABY!” Michael called, gripping her hips to guide her back to her seat and calm her panic. “I didn’t say I didn’t write one,” he clarified. “I said I don’t have it. I just realized that… the scripted speeches are not what I want tonight. Need a different direction. So I gave the speech to Alex before we left.” 

Though Raven could guess the reason for a sudden need for a new direction in the 11th hour. But she still found herself asking anyway. “Any reason for this different direction?” 

“Just think I should speak from the heart if I win, you know? Like I did in that interview. If I get to go on that stage tonight, wanna do it as the man I’ve become. Dunno if I have your way with words, though. Not nervous about losing but I’m nervous about fuckin’ up up there, not sayin’ the right thing, you know? Or everyone hating it?” 

Raven’s eyes softened a bit, always appreciating this vulnerable side of him. She knew how difficult and painful it had been to reveal that side to her and to the world. But she knew he was better for it. 

“You don’t need my way with words, baby. You just need yours and yours is poetic, it’s kind a-and loving and true. That isn’t a new direction o-or a new man, Michael. It’s just you. Every moment I’ve known you, that’s just you. You just let me see it and I’m so grateful for it. And you’ve let the world see glimpses of it in the last few months a-and if the response is any indication, the world is grateful too. You’re not nervous about saying the wrong thing. Going out there without the armor you’ve built to protect yourself is just scary. But it’s worth it. You taught me that. Don’t think about the right or wrong words. Just what you want to say about this moment. Whatever words you have will be right.” 

“Feel like you got more poetic on me since January.” 

Raven chuckled and shook her head. “Still only minimally poetic… and I can’t take credit for that one.” But she stopped herself before she said more. Now did not feel like the best moment to drop emotional bombs. 

“We’re here, Mr. Jordan. About three cars in front of us,” Allen called out from the front seat. 

He glanced at Raven, her eyes suddenly swimming with panic that he could tell she desperately wanted to swallow. He could almost see the realization hit her like a wall. She was about to walk out into the public eye for the first time in months at Hollywood’s most significant night of the year. And Michaell had been so elated to have her back that he had not considered how emotionally overwhelming that had to be. 

Raven was determined to hide it as best and long as she could. Tonight was all about Michael and his career. And she had accepted being in the public eye when she decided to go back to him. She knew it would be difficult but he was worth it. They were worth the sacrifice. But her brain assaulted her with every possible name she would be called, the headlines that would materialize tomorrow. And all of that would reflect poorly on him. What if she ruined his life… again?

“Hey, hey, Rae. Baby girl. Look at me,” his hands gently framed her face to force her eyes to him. “Don’t worry about them. It’s just you and me, aight? Tonight’s ours. The first night of the rest of our lives, showing up 100% in our truth. None of this other shit matters. So just focus on me. I won’t let you go, I promise.” 

“Just you and me,” she repeated, nodding slightly. 

And with that, he opened the limo door, standing tall as crowds shouted his name and the chaotic sounds of the carpet filled their ears. 

First night of the rest of our lives. And she was ready. 

***

Though she had not been to many award shows with Michael thus far, she learned one key thing. They were just as boring as they looked on tv except when you were the date of a popular nominee, you did not have the luxury of letting that boredom show. 

Will my jaw ever recover, she wondered as it ached from smiling through three hours of devastatingly mediocre jokes and long-winded speeches. At least the carpet was exciting and thrilling, as daunting as it was. In fact, the carpet was actually fun for the first time.

The chaotic jungle was its usual frantic chaotic place, not any different than she expected. But perhaps it merely felt different because she and Michael were so different from who they were the last time they were out together. They had stripped themselves bare and had shed their armor. They were standing decidedly in their truth and the immense love they shared. And that felt like a new world.

And she noticed so much more than her self-pitied colored glasses allowed her to see. Every protective touch, every studious glance to ensure she was still smiling and well, the well-timed playful remarks or jokes he whispered in her ear right when her nerves started to encroach, every gentle kiss that still held his endless passion for her. She finally saw it all and felt it. And it was everything. 

Michael straightened up next to her, pulling Raven out of her own daydreams. Robert Downey Jr. made his way to the middle of the stage, an envelope labeled Best Actor printed boldly across it. 

She tightened her grip on Michael’s hand. She had a good feeling about this. 

“A leading man is more than an attractive face, though I’m sure every woman would agree that all five men in this category have that quality in common as well. But what they also have in common is vulnerability, empathy, and the courage to search for the humanity and depth of their characters to embody their wants, their fears, their grief, their sorrow boldly and bravely. These five performances are exemplary and remind us all just what a leading man is. Here are the nominees for Best Actor in a Motion Picture.” 

The room dimmed ever so slightly as the reel started to play, the seconds that passed felt more like hours as they watched snippets of each performance. Michael’s was last, Raven’s free hand gently rubbing his arm as she felt his nerves finally kick in. She was impressed he only felt them now, she would have been an utter mess all evening.

“And the winner is…” the Marvel actor did a little fist pump that immediately gave the winner away, deafening applause almost drowning out his name. “Michael B. Jordan, Waves.” 

Michael’s head fell into his hand for a moment, genuine shock coursing through him. He had convinced himself that he would not win to minimize the disappointment. But he had not really considered how it would feel to actually win? To actually receive this honor. And it was more than he could have hoped it would be. 

Raven pulled him into her arms as they stood, tears swimming in her eyes. 

“I’m so proud of you,” she whispered before he kissed her. 

He honestly would have been fine to simply revel in this moment in her arms but he knew the clock was ticking on his speech.

He finally let her go and jogged up the stairs, giving RDJ a hug before stepping in front of the mic. The entire theater was still on their feet applauding and cheering as he stared out into the crowd. 

“Wow. Thank you so much for this. As a kid from New Jersey, you just don't really ever expect your dreams to take off like this, to end up in a place like this. This is just… more than I could’ve ever dreamed for myself. So thank you. There are a million people for me to thank and not enough time before they play me off. My family and friends, my team and manager, the cast and crew who poured their hearts and souls into this film… Without all of you, I wouldn’t have made it here tonight and I’m grateful for your constant support.” 

He glanced down at the trophy in his hand before continuing. “Umm… But there’s one person I do want to thank though and that is the love of my life, Raven Turner. When I look at you, all I can think of is how rewarding it is to be loved by you, to be chosen by you. That makes every day feel like I’ve just won an Oscar. I feel so blessed to be given the opportunity to love you, to stand in your light, and to live everyday working to be the man worthy of your love. Getting to share this moment with you goes beyond anything I could’ve imagined. Thank you for seeing me for all that I am and loving me for it. Thank you for falling with me, baby and I hope I make every day of our lives together worth it.” 

She knew that the tears that streamed down her face were not attractive or good for the camera that was surely about to pan to her but she could not have hoped to care. 

“I love you,” she mouthed though she doubted he could even see her from up there. 

“I love you. Thank you!” He held the statue up in his hand before turning and walking off stage, his standing ovation renewing. 

***

Michael wanted to laugh at how Raven stretched her body like an adorable kitten after sleeping like the literal dead for most of the daylight hours. He did not blame her, they did not stumble back into his house until after 4 am. Once the show ended, the pair bounced from after party to after party drinking, smoking, and dancing the night away. He had not had that much fun at industry events and parties in so long. And it had been so much fun that he was *almost* sad it was over, a perfect final night of an insane run in his career. 

But then he remembered that closing that chapter meant he could focus his attention on the perfect and hopelessly exhausted woman rousing in his arms. They could heal without the distractions of events and the public eye. They could build their lives together officially. The joy of that instinctively caused him to pull her into his chest, pressing his lips to the top of her head. 

“Mornin’ baby,” he whispered, his gruff voice filling her ears as Raven slowly opened her eyes.  

Peace and contentment gently glided through her frame like a light summer’s breeze, easing all the aches and pains she had felt before. She had missed this… falling asleep snuggled in his arms, wrapped lovingly and tightly in his scent. She would have been inclined not to move until she caught a glimpse of the time on his iPad. 

She let out a soft gasp as she tried to shoot up, shocked at how late she slept. However, his tight grip stopped her from lifting much beyond her head and chest. 

“You gotta let me go, baby. We should get up. It’s almost 3 pm… sorry, don’t even know how I slept that fucking late. I know you got shit to do.” 

“We had a late night and there ain’t shit to do today. And if there had been, I would’ve told you. Rest.” 

She used the back of her hand to rub her eyes as she glanced at him, studying how his eyes returned to a script on his iPad that was highlighted to death. She merely rolled her eyes. Of course he would be working right after the biggest night of his career. 

“How long have you been up?” 

“Since 11 or so?” he shrugged. “Figured I’d relax and read some scripts my team pulled for Outliers. Been so crazy, they’ve just been piling up. Grabbed a snack bout an hour ago and made you some tea but it’s definitely cold. I can make you more if you want.” 

“Why didn’t you wake me??” 

He merely shrugged with his unbothered charm, his hand gently rubbing her back, which lulled her into laying her head down on his chest again despite her brain’s alarm bells to get up.

How am I so tired?? She wondered as her eyes threatened to fall shut again. All her body wanted to do was fall asleep in his arms.  

“When you didn’t even move when I got up, it seemed like you needed the rest. And still do.”  

“I’m good.” 

“Those bags under your eyes say otherwise.”

“I know you ain’t talking…” she offered back, glancing pointedly at the equally stark dark circles under his eyes. 

“Touche. But no actor gets enough sleep. Early call times, global press tours, events and after parties. It’s the name of the game. You haven’t been taking care of yourself?” His annotation was that of a question but they both knew the answer. “How much sleep you been getting since we-” Michael stopped himself, the words he held back still hanging heavily in the air. There was still so much they still had to discuss, wounds that were still unhealed and unresolved. 

While Michael thought Raven was always stunning, he could not ignore the obvious toll the events of late had taken on his girl. He thought it had just been emotional but he had not seen her long enough to notice the physical strain his actions had caused too. And while she had told him not to feel guilty, he did. So he was not going to wake her up or bother her when it was clear she required a reset. And while he would always adore her for rallying for him last night, today was a new day. And she deserved to be catered to and have someone take care of her for a change. 

“Couple hours a night… Between the break up and the paparazzi during the first couple weeks… and then all the shit on social media, I was just on edge 24/7, my brain couldn’t shut off long enough to sleep… or sleep well. I had some old sleeping pills I used some nights when I was desperate but… it was hard not to think about everything over and over and over again. And then wallow in it.” 

“You stopped eating too? You lost weight.” 

Raven chuckled. “You know most men wouldn’t have a problem with their girlfriend losing a couple pounds. Wasn’t like I didn’t need to.” 

“You’re fuckin’ sexy at any weight but I gotta problem with anything that means you ain’t taking care of yourself. Especially when it’s my fault.” 

“I didn’t do it on purpose and it’s no one’s fault. I just… didn’t really have an appetite a lot. But that’s starting to come back. I’m fine, Michael. Truly. We’re still celebrating you, can’t end that early just to fuss over little ole me.” 

Michael knew she wanted him to pretend he believed her for the sake of not discussing this right now. But what was the point in that? He would not pretend he had not been terrified for her. That he was not still terrified at how all of this had worn her down. And he knew it was not just what he did, it had just been the final straw in a life-long list of painful experiences. But one thing Raven had always had when he looked at her was hope, even if the flame was as small as a dying candle. There was always an air about her that let him know she genuinely believed things would get better one day. 

But when he saw her at her apartment, the night at that bar? That was gone, completely extinguished. Her eyes, his favorite part of her, held nothing but sorrow. He would not be able to live with himself if he ever saw that look in her eyes again. 

“You aren’t fine, Rae. I know that shit. And I’m allowed to worry about you. I mean shit, how you looked after that video was bad enough. Then the bar?? Not gon’ forget that shit happened just cause we’re back together. And I’m not gon’ pretend you’re fine when you aren’t either. You’re not gonna keep sweeping your needs under the rug. We can lay here all day and sleep if that’s what you need.”

“You have better things to do, Mr. Academy Award Winner then watch me sleep. I can take care of myself.” 

“What if I like watching you sleep??” 

“Then that would be kinda endearing and… kinda creepy?” she mused. “But mostly endearing.” Not that she would ever admit it but she enjoyed watching him sleep too. 

“Well I might be creepy then,” he admitted. He did genuinely love watching her sleep, when she was in his arms, there was just a rare peace about her that he loved to see. “The outside world has gotten too much of me lately. Now, the only thing I wanna do is take care of you. Not cause you can’t do that shit yourself but because you shouldn’t have to. Everyone needs to be taken care of and I’m not letting the next 30 years go by without you knowing what that feels like. Now you’re gonna feel it. Every single day. Rest, Raven.”

His words tumbled through her brain as she stared at him for a moment, her eyes brimming with tears. She was exhausted and not just physically. But of carrying the weight of every problem on her shoulders, of being alone in crafting solutions. She was so often consumed by pure survival and it had made her resourceful and smart. There was not a problem that life threw at her that Raven had not figured out a way through. She was stuck in survivor mode 24/7. But the problem with survival is that it was an all-consuming task. There’s no opportunity… no room to rest. And no one to take on the burdens for her so she could. 

“I just haven’t h-had anyone… who cared enough to worry… in a long time, no one willing to share the load,” she offered simply, sniffling lightly. “Until you hired David… I didn’t think you cared what happened to me after we… I ended things.” 

“I did. I do.” His hand gently cupped her cheek, his thumb whisking away the tears that slowly fell. “Fuck, I thought about you every minute of the damn day, Rae. You had me over here losing my damn mind. I care… I love you so much, it fucking killed me. And scared me. And I deserved it, to worry and stress and flip shit because I fucked up… I hurt you.”

“You did. But it wasn’t just you. Life’s been shit before and I could always, you know, keep going? It was just the final blow to the little bit of hope I had? And I just didn’t see the point in getting back up again. That was my best… the bare minimum needed to keep breathing. The heartache… I knew I could get over that eventually. One day in the far fucking future, I could… would force myself to get over you. Or just accept that I could never have you. It was the ache of losing hope that killed me. It was like my soul ached? And there were moments, like the night of your premiere, that I just thought that would never heal?” 

“So you got wasted? To forget?” 

She chuckled. “Alcohol is a great temporary solution. When you’re that low… shit gets desperate,” she admitted. “Anything to numb the pain for a short while. But it always comes back.” 

“How often?” 

“Rarely and that was the worst night, I promise. Honestly, wasn’t sure I’d ever want to touch alcohol again after that.”  

“And now? How do you feel?” 

“The wounds in my heart still need mending but every second back with you has healed parts of my soul. I’m… not ok,” she admitted, Michael immediately empathizing with how difficult it was for her to say those words. “You’re right… it doesn’t just go away. But I will be ok.” 

He nodded. “I know you will be. I’m gonna make sure of it. Raven… look, I know this shit is scary, giving up control when you’ve been the one driving for so long, the one responsible for everything for so long. But I’m here, I’m not going anywhere and I’m not gonna let go again. It’s safe to let someone else behind the wheel for a while. Rest for me, baby girl. Please. 

As if she was light as a feather, he shifted her so her body laid on top of his chest, his strong arms anchoring her in that spot. She buried her face in the nape of his neck, breathing in the perfect scent that her heart recognized as him. 

Even as her body resumed its pliant posture in his arms, Raven realized she did not want rest. No, she wanted to feel him in the very depths of her. She knew they had to talk, knew there were conversations to be had. But fuck, she could not wait. She wanted to revel in this moment, of finally being with someone who genuinely loved her and cared. And she needed to feel it on a cellular level. 

Raven forced herself to sit up, quickly straddling his hips and giving him a quick but tantalizing grind against him. That turned his frown into a mischievous grin, though she could still see the concern in his eyes. 

“This is the opposite of rest, baby girl.” 

“I’ll rest as long as you want after. I need you.” 

“We still got a lot to talk about, Rae. I just don’t want you to get caught up in the moment ‘n not really want this yet. ‘N I…” Raven should have been put off the pure animalistic look simmering in his eyes. But instead it just made the desire grow stronger, long tentacles stretching out to every pleasure zone in her body. Demanding he touch, bite, slap, caress… literally do anything to satiate her. “I’m not sure what you need, what we both need.”  

Her palms cupped his face, guiding his eyes to hers. “Then don’t be sure. I love that you take care of me, Michael. But taking care of me isn’t having the perfect thing to say or do for me. Sometimes, it’s just being you and figuring it out as we go. I know I need you. And that’s what I want, to feel every part of you… whatever you have to give me. And everything we need to talk about will still be here when you’re done with me.”

And with her permission, the reins holding him back evaporated and he pounced. Raven was on her back before she could blink, Michael capturing her lips, reminding her of the dominance she missed. And desperately craved it.  

“Tell me what you need, baby,” he whispered in her ear.

“Everything. All of you.” 

Michael would happily oblige. He licked his lips as he stared down at her. Where would he even start? 

Some part of him wanted to render her utterly immobile as he usually did. But a more significant part of him just wanted to savor her. Wanted to feel everything she had to offer and bask in having her back with him. And while he loved the fast-paced dominant sex they were used to, it did not always allow for that. And he knew in his heart that they both needed more than fast and furious today.

His hands gently ran up the smooth skin of her thighs, gathering the oversized t-shirt on her frame in his hands and sliding it off. Her nipples pebbled slightly at the cold air against her warm skin. 

“Fuck, you’re beautiful. You know that shit right?” he asked as he pressed soft kisses against her neck. 

“Y-yes,” she whispered, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as he sucked on a particularly sensitive spot before moving down to her collarbone. 

“You know how much I love you? What I’d do for you?” he continued a slow but intentional path down her body, lingering on her chest as he engulfed each of her nipples between his lips. He took his time there, remembering how much she enjoyed nipple play. His mind called back to the numerous times he put clamps on them. His tongue licked her nipples, Raven whimpering and squirming beneath his hot mouth.

Soon, they would reacquaint themselves with those roles, he thought. If she was up for it.

Her body was ablaze as his lips and tongue found their home on every inch of her skin he could get to. Down he trekked, only slowing when he got to the paradise between her thighs. He knew her inner thighs were a weak spot, something he learned long long ago. He knew it was the teasing that got to her, being so close to where she needed pleasure the most but not exactly there yet. 

“Fuck I missed this,” he whispered. “Those little moans you make, how I make you squirm and beg and plead. The taste of you on my tongue.” 

“Michael… please,” she whimpered. “I need…” the words were lost on her, her brain was no longer in the decision-making business. Her body, the pleasure sensors that lived beneath the surface of her skin guided every feeling, every filthy thought, every base desire and need. “C-Can’t wait.” 

He lifted his head from between her thighs, his breath teasing her core with heat that turned her into putty in his hands. She could not wait, she needed to be connected to him. To feel their bodies become one again in the most intimate and carnal way. 

“You trust me, baby?” 

“With my life,” she answered truthfully. 

While his actions had shaken that trust, when it boiled down to it, she would never trust her body with anyone as she did with Michael. She was his and he had never harmed her or made her regret handing over the reins to her pleasure to him. He had proven himself worthy of it tenfold. 

“Then trust that Imma take care of you, princess. Always.” 

Princess… fuck was it possible for her heart to literally explode? Or for her to be anymore wet than she already was? 

His poor sheets, she mused. 

He resituated her legs on his shoulders and grinned up at her as he continued nipping at her inner thighs, Raven’s soft moans only spurring him on. She was already a mess… a delicious, delectable mess to be sure, her juices glistening and begging him to lick, suck… devour her. 

“Fuck… all this for me, baby?” he smiled as his kisses and bites grew closer and closer to where she desired, where she needed his touch the most. 

“Y-yes…” Her body had missed him more than she realized. 

“I missed you.” And with that short statement, devour her, he did. 

Bliss. 

Ecstasy. 

Fucking nirvana. 

He made her feel all of it with one masterful flick of his tongue against her bud, her back arching off his mattress and a guttural moan rising from her belly. He proved within minutes that he had not forgotten, forgotten what buttons to push, what spots to focus his attention, how she liked to be pleasured. 

He did not let up or come up for air as  his mouth savored every inch of her that he could, spelling out his adoration and love for her - not with his words - but with his tongue and his two fingers buried in her heat. There was a sensual pace to it that she was not used to with him. Typically, sex was deliciously punishing and unyielding. It was rooted in his care and gentleness for her but the pace left no time to breathe. Not that she minded. 

But today? He took particular care, the march up to her peak was tantalizingly slow but perfect all the same. There was no rush between them, despite Raven’s original desire to fit almost 2 months of lost time into this one moment. But Michael understood that they had time. There was no invisible clock, nothing rushing them. He could savor the little gasps of pleasure when he sucked her clit gently, the way her legs clamped around his head when she was close, how her pussy clenched around his fingers as he increased his speed to exactly where she liked, how her hips rocked to meet every thrust. 

Every plea, every moan, every scream for more. He wanted to hear all of it. And he wanted her to savor the feeling of being taken care of, because she would need to learn to get used to it. He could do this every day, more than once a day to be honest. 

“So… close,” her moans grew louder and louder as he took her to the edge of the cliff of pleasure. 

She allowed herself to fall as she felt the pleasure in her belly snap. Her mouth simply remained agape with a breathless scream on her lips as she fell into the depths of ecstasy. The crash didn’t feel like one at all, but a soft landing as he continued his ministrations against her clit, drawing out her orgasm for as long as he could. And it was pure bliss, warm waves of pleasure continuing to crash over her until he finally extracted himself from between her legs. 

“That was…” Being at a loss for words was commonplace when they fucked. But Michael understood as he pressed his lips to hers, allowing her to taste herself briefly. 

“Fuck!” she cried out as he immediately started to sheathe himself inside her, a welcomed surprise. She tried to hide it as her face screwed for a split second, her body becoming reacquainted with his girth and size. The stretch he provided today in particular, given their stint apart, was a short-lived sting of pain that managed to take her breath away. 

He immediately stilled. 

“Talk to me, Rae. You good?” 

Her eyes were still shut tight as she waited for a moment for her to get used to him again. So she merely nodded. 

“Words, baby.” 

“Y-Yea I’m good. J-just been a minute a-and you surprised me.” She let out a content sigh as pain gave way to mind numbing pleasure, giving him the directive to move. “A-and t-that’s not… fair,” she moaned. “W-wanted… to taste… you too.” She wanted to force her lips into a playful pout but the only facial expressions her muscles could conjure up were those of passion and pleasure. 

“Next time, princess.” He sucked on the soft skin of her neck as he drove into her. 

Raven could only see the darkness of the back of her head as her eyes rolled back with every rock forward of his hips, sending his dick right into her g-spot. His thrusts were relentless, Raven’s nails digging into his back as she held onto him for dear life. 

“Fuck… I-I love you,” she panted, unable to form any other real sentences worth anything. That was all that needed to be said in her mind. 

“Say it again,” he demanded, gently biting her neck as her declaration of love only spurred him on. He grabbed her legs and pulled her ankles to his shoulders. 

“I love… FUCK! Fuckkkkk, j-just like that!” She cried out, abandoning the words originally on her lips for completely incoherent ramblings of a woman who was being split into two but loved every single second of it. 

Did he just kill me?? Am I dead?? Because this no longer felt of this world? No human being should be allowed to experience this sort of pleasure. Or be able to give it… was the man above her even human? 

“You feel so good, baby. You like how I’m fuckin’ this pussy??”

“Yes! Yes! Fuck I love it so much. Don’t stop, please don’t stop!” 

Stopping?? An utterly foreign concept to him at that moment. And he did not. Raven barely could breath as Michael moved her into position after position, fucking her into oblivion. 

Tears sprang to her eyes as he fucked her from behind, his teeth biting gently into the skin of her neck.

“Where you want it, princess??” he demanded as he felt himself getting close. 

“Cum inside me,” she gasped, not wanting their union to end any sooner than it needed to. This was as close as they could get and for some part of her, it still was not close enough. 

More, more, more, her soul seemed to demand. More of him. 

“Don’t say that shit to me if you don’t mean it?” he warned, those few words causing a fever to settle over him, his hips snapping forward into her ass with a force that jolted her further into his mattress. 

“Please, baby,” she whined desperately, unable to find any other words to assure him that was what she wanted. 

Euphoric was the only word that came to mind as he pulled her flush to his chest and emptied his cum inside her. 

“Thank you, thank you,” she panted, her pussy clenching around him as he pumped in and out of her slowly.

Michael gently let her body fall into the mattress, Raven’s eyes already starting to flutter closed as he went to grab a warm towel. Another whimper escaped her lips as he cleaned her up. 

“That was… whew. I missed you.”

Michael did not bother putting his own clothes back on but instead slid into bed with her, cuddling her body against his. 

Of course now, sleep was not something Rave could avoid, her body spent as it always was after their time together. 

“ Give me an hour and then my legs will work again. And then I’m taking over,” she muttered as she yawned. 

He merely laughed and nodded, pressing his lips to her forehead. 

“Wouldn’t bet on it. I only made you cum four times.” 

Raven lifted her head to look at him incrediously. “Only four??? I can’t feel my legs, babe.” Her jaw dropped at the slight frown creasing his lips. “Oh my God… you’re actually upset,” she laughed. “You’re insane.” 

“I have a reputation to uphold, babe. Six minimum every time.” 

“If you wanna kill me, just say so,” she joked.

“Just tryin’ to put you to sleep without a fight,” he offered with a smile. “I give it five minutes before you’re out like a light.” 

“Very mischievous but effective.” 

Raven did not understand how she could even require more sleep, even after a palty (as Michael would complain) four orgasms. But he had accomplished his goal, her entire body was boneless and pliant in his hands. Everything in her told her she was finally home and safe to let go of everything else for the first time in her life. So she welcomed the coming rest, allowing her eyes to drift closed. However, before she fully gave in, she whispered. 

“You should rest too… you’ve been going and going since the top of the year. You’ve earned it too.” 

“Deal.” 

The life of an actor was defined by sleep deprivation so Michael had learned the important trait of falling asleep literally anywhere and anytime. Because his body was on his press tour schedule, he had felt wide awake after a few hours of rest this morning. But he knew if he closed his eyes for 5 minutes, he would pass out again. 

“I love you,” he offered quietly as he shifted them both so he was laying down again. 

“Not as much… as I love you,” she mumbled back as her eyes fluttered closed.

Tag list: @readinghere2023 @blackerthings @prettyisasprettydoes1306 @physicxal @purplehairgawdess @miyuhpapayuh @rueruesclues @geemamii @certifiedlesbianbaddie @pipsqueak-98 @nyifly22 @destinio1 @twocentaur @gopaperless @musicisme333 @majesticbrown @roguekiki @taurusqueen83 @mysteryuz @miamormilan @itsknor-thedeep @naj-ay444 @mads-grace4 @nayaesworld @kholdkill @msniaimani @nccu-rnc @apenasumlug4r @dezzy154 @munchsa

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A/N: Whew ok y'all do not know how much I agonized over this chapter LOL but our babies are backkkkkk and we have maybe two chapters left and an epilogue. Thanks so much for sticking by my slow writing ass. Drop a comment and let me know what you thought!

[nahimjustfeelingit-writes]

[aretasreads]

Michael B. Jordan & Delroy Lindo🤍

[nyifly22]

I love our elders 🥹

[nyifly22]

I love that Michael knows and feels just how much all of us at home root for him. I hope he can bask in that love forever

[aretasreads]

Michael B. Jordan now holds an Actor Award and an Academy Award for his performance in SINNERS🎉

[nubianqueensworld]

So proud of him! He deserves all of this and more! 🥹🤎

[hotgrlcece]

AND THAT’S HOW YOU CLEAR A BITCH